The Fox and TheFlower
by NaruinoFTW
Summary: Anko takes Naruto in at a young age to train him to defend himself. how will this affect his life from then on? Mokuton Naruto. possible Fox Sage Naruto. rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, if any of you are coming from Naruto's Digital Adventure, do not worry I haven't given up that story. Just taking a small break so I don't get burnt out on writing it. This will be a Mokuton Naruto story and I hope you all enjoy.**

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><p>A tall blond man stood in front of a newly created altar with a young baby boy laying on it. The man is Minato Namikaze, the fourth hokage of Konoha. In front of Minato was his wife, Kushina Uzumaki. They both were pierced through the chest by one of the great Kyuubi's claws. The boy lying on the altar was their newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki.<p>

"Are you sure he will be ok Minato-kun?" asked Kushina.

"Yes dear, I am only sealing half of the kyuubi's power within him. The other half will be sealed within me as we pass to the next life. If there is anything you want to say, do it now." Replied Minato.

"Naruto, how I wish that we could be there to watch you grow and live. I hope one day you will be able to forgive your father and me for the burden we are placing on you. I want you to grow and be a strong man Naruto. Find you a nice girl and settle down and give me some grandbabies. I love you Naruto." Kushina said with pain and sadness in her voice.

"There's not much more to say Naruto. I know you can befriend the kyuubi just like your mother did and use its power to protect those precious to you. We will always be watching over you Naruto. I love you." Minato said as he made one final hand sign and shouted "Seal."

The last half of the nine tailed fox was then sealed inside the infant. As the fox vanished, the bodies of Minato and Kushina fell to the ground void of any sign of life. A few minutes later, an older ninja dressed in pure black ninja gear arrived to find the two dead bodies and the crying baby. This was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third hokage. He picked the baby up trying to soothe the screaming infant. He signaled for the anbu to take the two bodies back to Konoha as he too made his way to the village to inform the council of what happened.

(Council Room)

Hiruzen sat at the head of the room dressed once again in hokage robes with Naruto in a cradle next to him. It surprised Hiruzen that the baby could sleep with all the yelling going on between the civilian and shinobi council.

"We should just have the demon killed now before it attacks us all again." Shouted a councilman.

"Let's finish what the fourth started and be done with it all." Shouted another.

"Are you insane, he is just a helpless infant. You can't seriously consider killing the poor child. He had no control over what happened." Shouted Inoichi Yamanaka.

"The young pup didn't choose to be the jinchuriki. Would you still feel the same way if it was one of your pups that the fourth decided to seal the demon in?" asked Tsume Inuzuka.

Once again, the two sides of the council started yelling and cursing back and forth. Hiruzen had finally had enough. He started leaking killing intent into the room as he shouted. "EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP." This immediately got the desired reaction as everyone in the room fell silent.

"Minato wanted this child to be seen as a hero for holding the nine tailed demon fox. Not as the monster sealed within him. No one is going to kill the young boy or harm him in any way. Naruto will be placed in the orphanage until he is able to support himself. No one will speak of this outside of this room. I am making this a ss-class secret punishable by death." Hiruzen stated with a tone that left no room for argument.

After he saw that no one else was going to say anything, He dismissed everyone and they went on their ways. After everyone else had left, Inoichi along with his two friends Shikaku Nara Choza Akimichi walked up to Hiruzen.

"What can I help you three with?" asked the hokage.

"When will you tell Naruto of his heritage, Hokage-sama? After all, since Lady Kushina was heiress of Uzushiogakure that would mean that he not only prince of an entire country, but also the last heir to the Uzumaki clan." Asked Shikaku.

Hiruzen knew that these three and their wives were all friends with Minato and Kushina. So it didn't really surprise him that they asked about his heritage. "I will tell him when he is old enough to defend himself. Minato made a lot of enemies out there and they may still try to get revenge on him by getting to his family. As for Kushina's side of the family, I'm not really sure. We can cross that bridge when we get there, for now we just have to watch over him and keep him safe."

The three ninja nodded and left as Hiruzen gather his things and Naruto to take him to the orphanage. He prayed to kami that Naruto would be safe at the orphanage and no harm would come to the infant.

(5years later)

It was a late evening in Konoha. A young girl about seventeen years of age was walking home from her favorite dango shop. She had on a mesh body suit that went from her neck to her thighs, a dark orange skirt, and a tan over coat. This was Anko Mitarashi, Tokubetsu Jonin. She turned a corner just as something ran into her and fell to the ground. She looked down to see a blond haired boy in a white shirt with orange shorts. She knew instantly that the young boy was Naruto.

She had seen him before being bullied or chased and always helped when she could. After all, they were very much alike. Both were abused and treated badly throughout different times in their lives. It was for two completely different reasons, but Anko could understand Naruto more than anyone else in the village. She stepped forward to help the young boy up, but he quickly made it to his feet and started running again. She was shocked at first because Naruto never ran from her. A few minutes later, Anko noticed ninja and civilians running in the same direction as Naruto. She grew angry and set out to find Naruto before anyone else did.

She looked high and low for Naruto but was having trouble finding him. She knew he was good at hiding, especially when he could basically disappear from trained anbu. By the time she did find him, he was trapped in a dead end alley with no way of escape. She jumped off the roof and landed in front of Naruto. The sight she saw made her sick. Naruto had deep cuts all over his body with a few kunai still sticking in him. He had burns from fire jutsus on his arms and legs. He eyes were almost swelled shut and he had bruises from being beaten all over his body. He also had a few broken or dislocated bones. How someone could do something like this was beyond Anko. She turned and faced the crowd of civilians and ninja.

"What do you want snake whore? Stay out of our way or your next." Shouted someone in the middle of the crowd which received yells of agreement from the other.

Anko smirked as she bit her thumb and made a few hand signs before slamming her palm to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu." In a puff of smoke, two giant cobras appeared before her. One was black and the other was a dark purple.

"What can we help you with Anko?" asked the black snake in a male voice.

"Chaos, I need you and Slitheren to make hold this group off for about ten minutes. I have to get Naruto to the hokage asap." Replied Anko.

"What happened? Is Naruto ok?" asked the purple snake Slitheren in a female voice. Chaos and Slitheren both cared for the blond boy. He was always nice to be around and he seemed to make their master happy when he was around. So both snakes were very protective of the boy and when they find out that someone hurt either Naruto or Anko, there would be hell to pay.

"He was attacked by those stupid villagers. I am gonna take him to see Biwako-san and see if I can get her to treat him. Just don't let the villages follow me, give me about ten minutes then head home. I will summon you later and let you know how he is doing." Replied Anko. After her snakes gave her a nod in understanding, she picked Naruto up as gently as possible and headed towards the Hokage tower. She smirked as she heard screams of pain behind her.

(Hokage Tower)

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the hokage office enjoying his peaceful evening. The only thing he wasn't enjoying was the endless amounts of paperwork that seemed to just keep piling up on his desk. Although there wasn't any trouble so far, the aged hokage knew that wouldn't be the case for very long. Nothing ever went peaceful for long periods of time. Just as that thought crossed his mind, he felt a massive amount of killer intent flood over the tower. A few seconds later, the door to his office flew off the hinges as a pissed off looking Anko stepped through the doorway.

"Anko, what is the meaning of this?" asked Hiruzen.

"I need Biwako-san immediately. Naruto has been attacked again." Shouted Anko.

Hiruzen sighed at this. He had tried to protect Naruto as much as he could. The council however had stopped him from helping him anymore than getting him a place to stay after the orphanage had kicked him out earlier in the year. He also knew that Anko had a closer bond with the young blond more than anyone else. He didn't want to deal with a pissed Anko right now. He motioned for an anbu member to and retrieve his wife. A few minutes later, the anbu returned with his wife.

"What do you need dear?" asked Biwako.

Before the hokage had a chance to answer, Anko spoke up. "Biwako-san, please you have to help Naruto. Some of the villagers attacked him again."

Biwako turned to see Anko covered in blood. Next she saw a small bundle with blond hair in her arms bruised, beaten, and cut with blood pouring from the cuts badly. Naruto was like a grandson to the elderly couple so Biwako quickly took Naruto and laid him on the couch and began healing him the best she could. After about ten minutes, Biwako sat back in a chair a little exhausted.

"How is he Biwako-san?" asked a worried Anko.

"He will be fine. Luckily the kyuubi must have been healing his wounds as you made your way here. He just needs some rest and he will be good as new." Replied Biwako.

Anko bit her thumb and made a few hand signs and summoned Chaos and Slitheren. As soon as the smoke cleared the snakes looked over Naruto to make sure he was ok.

"He's fine guys. Biwako-san healed him and said he just needs some rest. Did the villagers give you any problems?" Anko asked her summons.

"A few of them tried attacking us and chasing after you but a few bites here and there changed their minds. Don't worry Hokage-sama, they won't die from the bites. They will just be sick for a few days." Said Chaos.

"Anko, I can't have you letting your summons attack the villagers, ninja or civilian." Said Hiruzen in a displeased tone.

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, I don't give a fuck!" shouted Anko.

"Calm down Anko." Replied the hokage.

"No I won't calm down. Biwako-san and I are the only ones who will even help the boy. Biwako-san can only do so much since you let the council control everything. I have stood by long enough, I know what Naruto goes through better than anyone else in this village. I am taking under my wing and will train him to defend himself." Replied Anko.

"Anko, I can't allow you to do that. You know –"Hiruzen was cut off by his wife raising her hand.

"Go ahead Anko-chan. If anyone can help Naruto-kun it is you. Protect him and train him well. If you need any help, you know where to find me. I can watch over him for you while you are on missions and stuff." Biwako said with a smile as Anko hugged her and picked up Naruto.

Anko, Naruto and the two snake summons walked/slithered out of the hokage tower and back towards Anko's small home. After they left Hiruzen looked to his wife.

"Why did you allow her to do that Biwako-chan?" asked the hokage.

"Because dear, they can help each other more than they know. They both will benefit from this, you'll see. Plus Anko is right, you have grown soft in your old age. You need to take control back from the council. You are the Hokage, you make the decisions not the council. And as long as Anko and Naruto need my help, I will be there to help them." Biwako stated with a tone of finality as she headed home.

Hiruzen sat in his office for a few more minutes pondering over what his wife had just told him. _"She is right. I have grown soft in my old age. I hope you can forgive me Anko, Naruto, and even you Minato and Kushina. I promise I will make things right." _Hiruzen thought quietly to himself as he made his way home.

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><p><strong>So here is chapter one. Yes Biwako is still alive and yes she is a medical ninja. I'm not sure when Anko became jonin, so in my story she is 17 and already special jonin. This will be a mokuton naruto story and the pairing will be strictly NaruIno.<strong>

**So with that said, I need a sensei for their team and the choices are Anko, Kakashi, or Asuma. **

**And I need someone for the third member of their team. Anyone is available for this selection.**

**So let me know what you think by leaving me a review and I will update as soon as possible. the following chapters should be longer after this one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter 2. As for deciding the sensei and the third member of the team, counting votes from reviews or pm's. Asuma and Tsume are tied for votes. I'm leaning more toward Asuma though, he could help Naruto with his wind affinity and plus I am not sure how well I could write out Tsume's character. As for the third member, surprisingly (at least to me anyways) is Shino with Shikamaru coming in one vote behind. The decision will be announced when I write chapter three, least way that's the plan as of now.**

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><p>Anko, her two snake summons, and a still unconscious Naruto arrived back at Anko's place around nine o'clock. She laid Naruto on the couch and went to make some tea for when the boy decided to finally wake up. It wasn't long after the tea was made that Naruto started to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He expected to wake up lying on the cold, hard ground or in a hospital bed. He then noticed he was lying on someone's couch. It wasn't his couch, he knew that because if it was he would have been able to feel the springs popping through the cushions.<p>

So one question came to his mind. _"Where am I?"_ he thought as he slowly rose off the couch.

"Good to see you awake gaki." Naruto was happy to hear that voice. Only one person called him that and it was one of the very few people he enjoyed being around.

Naruto looked towards the sound of the voice and saw Anko smiling from the kitchen doorway. He quickly made his way to her before giving her a hug. "What am I doing here Anko-chan?" Naruto asked looking up at her.

"After you were attacked earlier this evening, I took you to Biwako-san and she healed your wounds. After that I brought you back here to rest. We need to talk Naruto, but first there are two snakes who want to see you." Anko said.

Just then Naruto was wrapped up in what he considers a snake's form of a hug. Slitheren wrapped herself carefully around his body and rubbed her check up against Naruto's. Naruto wrapped his arms around the snake's neck and hugged back. Slitheren then unwrapped herself from Naruto as Chaos slithered up and Naruto stroked the top of his head.

"Are you alright Naruto? Why didn't you use the seals that Anko-san gave you to summon us if you were in trouble?" Questioned Slitheren. Anko had made a couple of seals for Naruto after an attack one day. They weren't anything fancy, they just activated when Naruto pumped just a small amount of chakra into the seal and Chaos or Slitheren would be summoned to aid the young blond.

"I am fine Slitheren, I promise. The reason I didn't use the seals was because one of the ninjas launched a fire jutsu at me Justas I went to summon you and the paper it was on got burned up. I'm sorry." Naruto replied with a sad look on his face.

"You are not to blame Naruto, those stupid villagers are. That's part of what I want to talk to you about." Anko said as she and Naruto took a seat on the couch. Seeing she had his attention, she continued. "The hokage has allowed me to take you in Naruto. You don't have to live on the streets anymore, you can have a warm and dry place to stay and a warm meal every night. That is, if you want to stay here?" she asked.

"So you would be like my mom?" Naruto asked.

Anko let out a small chuckle. "Not quite Naruto, more like an older sister. I'm too young to have any kids yet, whether they are mine or not. So what do you say?"

Naruto looked at her with a big smile on his face before tackling her into a huge hug. "Of course I'll stay, I always wanted family."

"I'm glad you decided to stay Naruto, I have one more thing I need to tell you. Starting tomorrow I will start your ninja training. I will train you with the three academy jutsus as well as other ninja training. I want you to be able to defend yourself from these annoying villages. Also with getting a head start on training, you will have an advantage over some of the students in the academy when you start in three years." Anko explained as she took two objects out of a seal on her trench coat and handed them to Naruto.

One as a blank piece of white paper and the other was a scroll. He opened the scroll and began to look over it as Anko spoke again. "In that scroll is a type of martial arts known as Sanshou, or 'free hand'. It is a type of traditional kung fu and combines it with a modern combat fighting technique known as kickboxing, which includes close range and rapid successive punches and kicks, with wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps, kick catches, and even elbow and knee strikes."

She took a moment to let that sink in before she continued. "With some training and help, I'm sure that fighting style will suit you after you grow a little bit. Now that white piece of paper is called chakra paper. Pump a little bit of your chakra into it and I will know what affinity you have so I can find some ninjutsu to teach you." Anko explained.

"How do you tell what affinity is what?" asked Naruto.

"Fire, the paper will ignite and turn to ash. Wind, the paper will split in two. Lightning, the paper will wrinkle. Earth, the paper will turn to dirt and crumble away. Water, the paper will become wet." Anko replied.

Naruto did as he was instructed and pushed chakra into the paper as he held it in the palm of his hand. The paper then split into three different parts. The first part turned into dust. The second piece of paper became wet and water mixed with the dust creating a very small tree from the combined elements. Finally, the last piece of paper burst into flames and turned to ash.

Both Naruto and Anko sat quietly for a few minutes completely shocked but for completely different reasons. Naruto was shocked because, if he had looked at the paper right, he had five affinities, that had to be more than almost anyone else. Anko was shocked to see that he had an affinity for mokuton. Other than the first hokage, only one other person had the wood style and that was only because of a certain snake-teme.

"Umm Anko, what does that mean?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure Naruto, but I think we need to see the Hokage first thing in the morning. It's getting late, let's get some sleep and we will see if the hokage knows comes morning. There is a spare bedroom down the hall you can sleep in." Anko replied. She didn't want to lie to Naruto about his affinities, but she needed to make sure that what she saw had been true.

Naruto nodded and made his way to his new room and stopped at the door and looked back at Anko. "Goodnight Anko-nee."

"Goodnight ototo." Anko replied with a smile and headed for her own bed. **(Pretty sure that is the right translation for little brother.)**

(Next Morning)

Naruto woke up after finally getting a goodnight sleep for the first time in a long time. He was also able to have a good breakfast without having to steal the food or eat rotten food. Naruto and Anko were now on their way to speak to the hokage of Naruto's elemental affinities from last night. They made it to the tower, and after a few glares and harsh words between Anko and the hokage's secretary, they went in to see the hokage.

"Good morning. What brings you two here this early?" asked Hiruzen with a smile.

"Hokage-sama, I believe there is something you should see with Naruto-kun." Anko replied.

"And what would that be Anko?"

Anko took out a piece of chakra paper and handed it to Naruto. "Do the same thing you did last night ototo." Naruto nodded and stepped forward so the hokage could have a better view. Once again he pushed his chakra into the paper and got the same results as last time. He looked up to see the same shocked face on the hokage that Anko had last night. Naruto was a little concerned now, why did both Anko and the old man look at him like that?

"Is something wrong with me or my affinities, because you both have looked at me like that?" Naruto asked with worry evident in his voice.

"No Naruto, no need to worry. Everything is fine. It's just that you have an affinity only a couple of people had. You have an affinity known as mokuton, or wood release." Hiruzen told the young blond.

"You mean the same mokuton that the first hokage had?"

"Yep, just like the first hokage Naruto." Anko said.

"That is so cool. Now I'll be an even cooler shinobi." Naruto shouted as he jumped around the room in happiness. The hokage and Anko let out a small chuckle at Naruto's antics.

"Calm down gaki. Go wait for me in the hallway. I need to speak with hokage-sama and then we will go start your training." After Naruto left, Anko turned back to the hokage. "How is it possible for him to have the mokuton?"

"The only reason I can think of is the fact that he is an Uzumaki. The Senju and Uzumaki clans are distant blood relatives. I never heard of an Uzumaki having the mokuton, but apparently it is indeed possible. I will send Yamato with you and Naruto to help with his training when Yamato isn't on a mission." Replied Hiruzen.

"When are you going to tell him of his family hokage-sama? He has a right to know since he is heir to his clan and prince to a country."

"I will tell him when he is older and able to defend himself from his enemies. Minato made a lot of enemies when he was alive and I don't know if they would come after his son in order to get some kind of revenge." Hiruzen replied.

"If you don't hokage-sama, I will." Anko said as she sent a hard glare to the aged kage before heading for the door.

"You know you can't do that Anko, it is an ss-class secret."

Anko stopped at the door and looked back. "I can and I will. He has a right to know of his heritage." And with that said, Anko left to start Naruto's training.

Naruto and Anko made their way to a training ground just outside of Konoha. Naruto had been bouncing up and down, going on about how he couldn't 'wait to learn super cool jutsus' and 'cool of a shinobi he would be with his mokuton'. He was actually starting to get on Anko's nerve, which he would learn later on was definitely not a good thing.

"So Anko-nee, what am I going to learn first? Cool fighting moves or super powerful jutsus." Naruto asked with barely controlled excitement.

Anko walked up to him and bopped him over the head. "Enough of that gaki. While we are training you will address me as Anko-sensei. We will be working on chakra control exercises and then the three academy jutsu. Until you master those, you will not be learning anything new. Understand?"

"Aww come one Anko-nee." Naruto whined out.

Anko delivered another hit to the back of his head. "I said, do you understand?"

"Hai sensei." Naruto quickly said.

It was late evening when Naruto and Anko walked through the door to their home. Well Anko walked, Naruto was exhausted from all the chakra control exercises and the three academy jutsu, so he just stumbled through the door and made his way to bed. He wanted to complain about not learning anything cool to help him become a better ninja, but he decided against it since he didn't want to see Anko mad at him. _"If she pushes me like this now and we are only starting our training, I think I'm gonna hate to see what she is like later on. Can I really handle three years of this?" _Naruto thought as he let sleep take him.

(Year and a half later)

It had been about a year and half since Naruto started his training under Anko and Yamato. The first couple months had been a bit of pain for the trio. It had taken Naruto a few months to get the chakra exercises mastered, with him having the most trouble mastering the water walking exercise. When he started learning the henge, kawarimi, and the clone jutsus, he mastered the first two within a month but had trouble with the clone jutsu. After talking with Anko, she and Yamato decided to teach him the shadow clone and wood clone.

After a few times of using the shadow clones, Naruto learned that the shadow clones memories were transferred back to him. He knew that would come in helpful on missions and learning new techniques. Now we find Naruto walking home from Ichiraku Ramen, his number one place to eat what he considers the 'food of the gods'. Anko had decided to give him a day off since he had a come quite a ways since starting his training. While he walking past the park, he heard some yelling and crying. He decided to go and see what was going on and help if he could.

After a couple of minutes of quickly searching for the source of the noise, he found three boys, that seemed to be about eleven or twelve, bullying a young blond girl. One thing Naruto didn't like was bullies, he simply couldn't stand them. Naruto decided to intervene before the boys did anything else.

"Hey, why don't you guys try picking on someone your own size and leave the girl alone." Naruto shouted out behind the boys.

"Why don't you just go ahead and go on home before you get hurt too." Said the boy Naruto assumed to be the leader of the group.

"How about you leave the girl alone and I won't have to kick your sorry asses." Naruto retorted.

"That's it, get him boys." The leader shouted and one of the boys ran at Naruto.

Naruto shifted into his fighting stance and waited for the boy to reach him. The boy threw a right jab at Naruto's face and Naruto knocked his hand to the side causing the boy to lose his balance. As the boy went stumbling forward, Naruto stuck his foot out and gave the boy a light push on the back causing him to land face first in the dirt.

One of the other boys helped his friend up, then they both faced Naruto with a smirk on their faces. "Let's see how well you do two against one."

"Who said it was two against one?" Naruto asked as he crossed his fingers and a clone popped into existence.

The boys just smirk thinking it was a simple clone. The boys rush Naruto ignoring the clone as they believe it is just a normal clone. One of the boys sends a kick a Naruto's side as the other boy throws a punch at his face. The clone catches the kick between his arm and side leaving the boy standing wide eyed and on one leg. The clone pushes forward on the boy's chest with his palm as he kicks his foot out from underneath him causing him to land on the ground hard on his back.

The real Naruto steps slightly to the left as the boys punch goes flying over his shoulder. He then spins in place as he grabs the boy's arm and flips him over his shoulder, slamming him down on top of his grounded friend. Naruto then turned his attention to the final member of the group.

"So, do you want to take your friends and get out of here or go you want an ass kicking too?" Naruto asked getting back into his fighting stance.

The boy and his friends started to run off as the leader of the group shouted over his shoulder. "This isn't over yet!"

After the boys left, Naruto made his way over the young blond girl. As she saw Naruto approach, she closed her eyes expecting Naruto to be just another bully. Naruto kneeled down in front of her before speaking.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" Naruto asked concerned for her safety.

Seeing that Naruto wouldn't hurt her, she shot forward and gave Naruto a hug. "Thank for saving me. I thought those boys were gonna hurt me. I'm fine though thanks to you."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka." Ino replied.

"Well it was nice meeting you Ino. I'll see ya around." Naruto said as he started to walk off.

"Wait Naruto. Would you walk me home? I don't know if those boys will follow me or not." Ino asked with a bit of worry.

Naruto didn't want her to get hurt so he decided he would walk her home. Along the way they talked and got to know each other a little more. Ino couldn't help but giggle and Naruto and the way he acted about his 'food of the gods' ramen and his dream of being hokage. After about thirty minutes of walking, they arrived at Ino's home. Ino's mom had been watching for Ino out the window and opened the door as soon as she saw her daughter.

"Ino, where have you been?" asked Noriko.

"I'm sorry mommy. I was being bullied at the park and couldn't get away. But then my new friend Naruto came and protected me from them." Ino replied as she pointed to Naruto.

"Thank you for protecting my little girl Naruto. Would you like to come in?" Noriko asked.

"Thank you for the offer Yamanaka-san, but I must decline. I need to be getting home before Anko-nee comes searching for me." Naruto replied while bowing.

Ino turned to Naruto and gave him another hug. "Come visit sometime and we can go play at the park or something ok."

"I'll come by whenever I have some free time. See you later Ino." Naruto then turned and headed back toward home.

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><p><strong>Next chapter will probably start where canon did with the graduation exams. I am thinking about trying to give Naruto a 'take no shit' kind of attitude, maybe. This will only being during missions or times that call for it. So a question I have for the readers is, should Naruto put on the act of being the class dobe through the academy or should he go through the academy like Anko would teach him? Let me know what you think.<strong>

**Also what affinity should Ino have? I am thinking either water or lightening, maybe both.**

**Yes Naruto has five elements. However, his two primary will be wind and wood. Water and earth will mainly be used for the wood style and his fire affinity will only be used when Kurama takes over or Naruto is using the demon chakra.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So Asuma will be the sensei for Naruto's team. The third member will be…. Well you'll just have to wait and see.**

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><p>Naruto sat in Iruka's classroom next to the brooding Uchiha. He was waiting for Iruka to come in and start class. It had been two years since Naruto started the academy. In those two years he made a few new friends. There were three boys in the same class as Naruto and he got along with them very well. These boys were Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi, and Kiba Inuzuka. From the beginning of the academy, he still had Ino as his very first friend. They had spent time together after he protected her from the bullies and were happy to learn they would be in the same class.<p>

The first few months of his first year, Naruto developed a crush on one of the civilian girls named Sakura Haruno. When Anko found out about his crush, she did two things. One, she set him down and explained why he shouldn't be crushing over Sakura and explained that she only had eyes for her precious 'Sasuke-kun.' Second, she made sure that Naruto would think carefully over the next girl that he decided to have a crush on and make sure she would return his feelings.

Naruto was lost in thought and didn't notice the pinkette stop in front of him till she spoke. "Move it baka. I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun so get lost." Said Sakura.

"Like I give a rat's ass what you want. I'm sitting here so go find somewhere else to sit." Naruto replied without even looking up at her.

This made Sakura mad. She cocked back her fist and then tried to punch Naruto. There was a poof of smoke, once the smoke cleared, Sasuke was sitting in Naruto's place. Naruto had used the kawarimi and switched places with Sasuke and the last Uchiha had taken the punch to the face. When Sakura realized what happened, she went move towards Naruto but he disappeared in a blur. She then felt something sharp and metal touch her skin.

"Listen here Haruno, I'm sick of your attitude and thinking you need to be stuck up the Uchiha's ass all the time. Try to touch me again and it will be the last thing you ever touch." Naruto growled out in a serious tone. After he said what he needed to, he walked off and sat next to Ino. They started talking and laughing like nothing ever happened.

Naruto had fallen asleep about halfway through the class. The only reason he was awake now was for the classes sparring session they had daily. Naruto was currently sitting leaned up against the fence was a sparring match. Ino was sitting next to him with her head on his shoulder.

"Who do you think you will spar against Naruto?" Ino asked watching as the next match started.

"It doesn't really matter to me. I just wish Anko-nee would allow me to use a little more strength with the sanshou fighting style. The only way I don't have to hold back is if I face one of the kids from a clan since they have more training than civilian kids." Naruto explained.

"Not all clan kids have a fighting style. Like the Yamanaka, we don't really have a certain fighting style. I wouldn't mind finding one that suits me though." Ino said.

Naruto thought about it for a moment then an idea hit him. "What about the snake style Ino? I have seen the way you watch nee-chan when she is practicing her taijutsu. I think it would be a good style for you."

"I'll think about it." Ino replied. Internally she was happy. Happy that Naruto had suggested the idea. Ino enjoyed spending time with Naruto. Anko was always nice to Ino and if Training with the snake mistress of Konaha got her more time around Naruto, she wasn't going to complain.

Just then, Iruka called the names of the next sparring match. "Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki."

Ino looked up at Naruto and asked a question. "Are you going to use it?"

"No, I'm not ready for anyone other than you, nee-chan, and old man kage to know that I have the mokuton just yet." Replied Naruto as he walked to the training area.

Iruka told them to begin and Naruto just stood there while Sasuke rushed in. Sasuke threw a punch at Naruto which Naruto side stepped. Sasuke then spun on his foot and landed a kick in Naruto's side which sent him sliding a few feet back. Sasuke jumped in the air and brought his foot down hoping to knock Naruto out. Naruto crossed him arms over his head and flipped Sasuke off of him when Sasuke landed.

As soon as Sasuke landed on the ground, Naruto was in front of him with an elbow drove deep in his gut. This caused Sasuke to double over in pain and gasp for breath for a few moments. Naruto took this chance and rushed in. He moved in front of Sasuke as he flipped over to stand on his hands, as he pushed up he connected his foot with Sasuke's chin sending him into the air. Naruto followed the Uchiha into the air and delivered an axe kick to Sasuke's head sending him back to the ground.

Sasuke managed to get up and ran toward Naruto. Sasuke sent a kick to Naruto's side only for the blond to grab his foot between his arm and side. Naruto raised his free elbow and brought it down hard on Sasuke's leg just above his knee. A small yelp of pain was heard from the Uchiha as Naruto let him go. Sasuke moved towards Naruto once more a bit slower this time. He tried to punch Naruto but Naruto side stepped the punch and placed his hand on Sasuke's chest. Naruto then kicked Sasuke's good leg out from under him and Sasuke landed on his back folded in half.

Iruka called the match, and after the fan girls quit screeching about how Naruto cheated, the class went back inside. Naruto couldn't wait for the next two years to be done and over with. The sooner he got away from the fan girls the happier he would be.

(Day before graduation)

Naruto, Ino, and Anko were on their way to see the hokage. After the news that the two kids had told Anko, she told them they needed to inform the hokage immediately. Walking in the building and up the stairs to the hokage's office, Naruto knocked on the door and waited till he heard enter before walking inside.

Hiruzen looked up to see the trio in front of him. "What can I help you three with today?" asked Hiruzen.

The trio walked to the front of the desk and stood at attention. Naruto was the first to speak. "Hokage-sama, we have some information you may want to hear."

A serious look spread over Hiruzen's face, Naruto never addressed him by his title unless it was an important matter. "I'm listening."

"Mizuki-sensei has been tampering with Naruto's tests and paper work for the last few months. His grades have been getting worse for a while and now it's to the point where he would be considered the dead last of this year's group and we all know that isn't true." Stated Ino.

"How do you know that is was Mizuki?" asked the kage.

"There are only two people who handle the paper work and that's Iruka and Mizuki. Do you honestly think Iruka would do that to Naruto?" Anko asked with a sarcastic tone.

Hiruzen thought about that for a few moments and decided Anko was right. "Alright, I will have the anbu deal with it immediately."

"Actually Hokage-sama, we have a plan to deal with Mizuki-teme. With your permission of course." Naruto said.

"And what would that be?" asked Hiruzen.

"We want Iruka-sensei to fail Naruto tomorrow during the graduation exams." Ino said with a slight chuckle from the look on the kage's face.

"Why would you want that to be done?" Hiruzen replied with a shocked expression.

"Because if Iruka fails him tomorrow, then Mizuki will have a reason to seek out Naruto for whatever he has planned. Even if he doesn't use Naruto for anything, you can just tell Iruka this was your plan and that Naruto should pass. Besides, the gaki will have his girlfriend with him at the academy tomorrow and I will keep an eye on him from the shadows." Anko said as she laughed at the blushes on the blonds faces.

Hiruzen wasn't sure if he should allow this to be done or not. Sure Anko was a special jounin and Naruto and Ino both had been trained by her to some extent. He finally decided to allow them to go forth with their plan. He wrote a small note and summoned an anbu to take it to Iruka and dismissed the three.

(Day of the exams)

Naruto and Ino sat in class waiting for the exams to start. Iruka had pulled them to the side that morning making sure this wasn't some type of prank. While Iruka and Mizuki were watching the exams, the rest of the students sat in the class talking, laughing or in a certain Nara's case, sleeping. Then there were the fan girls, all trying to be closer to the brooding Uchiha.

Sakura walked back in the class from finishing her exam and decided to make a scene. She wanted the seat beside Sasuke which just happened to be occupied by Naruto. "Move it baka, that's my seat."

Naruto stood up before looking all over the chair and sat back down. "I didn't see your name anywhere so I'm assuming it isn't yours." Replied Naruto causing Ino who was sitting next to him to laugh.

"Why are you even here? It isn't like you're gonna pass or anything." Sakura screeched out.

"I'm sorry, did you say something Haruno? Never mind I don't care if you did or not, I got bigger things to worry with." Naruto said as he stood and turned to move.

Sakura was pissed off and swung her fist at Naruto. She was surprised when Ino caught her fist in the palm of her hand. Ino then pulled Sakura towards her and folded her arm up behind her back eliciting a yelp of pain from the pinkette. "You better keep your hands to your self Haruno." Ino growled out as she and Naruto went to set in the corner of the classroom.

A few minutes later, Naruto was called to start his exam. He walked in and stood in front of Iruka and Mizuki. He was told which jutsu to perform and that he would be graded on the results. Naruto went through the exam and at the end Iruka told him that he failed. Naruto's face became saddened as Mizuki smirked at this. Iruka then left to get the next student.

"Listen Naruto, I'm sorry you didn't pass. If you want though, I can give you extra credit if you do something for me, kinda like a make-up test." Mizuki said.

A smile grew on his face as a thought went through his mind. _"Gotcha teme."_ Naruto then looked up at Mizuki. "Anything that will let me pass to be a ninja."

"There is a large scroll hidden in the hokage's office. If you can bring it to me at this location tonight, I will tell the hokage you passed." Mizuki said as he handed Naruto a slip of paper.

Naruto nodded and ran out of the room. He walked back into the classroom and told Iruka he was leaving. He slipped Ino the piece of paper before darting out of the classroom headed for the Hokage tower. Naruto jumped in through the window but the hokage was nowhere to be found. He left a note for the kage saying what he was doing before he grabbed the scroll and ran off.

Naruto made his way to the location he was supposed to meet Mizuki. He was a little early and was bored out of his mind. Letting curiosity over run his better judgment, he decided to look through the scroll. He opened the scroll and began to look over its contents. He came upon a scroll that was sealed inside this one that read "Uzumaki family summoning contract." He was curious to what it was so he unsealed it. Before he could look it over, he sensed another presence coming closer.

A few seconds later, Mizuki landed in front of Naruto. "Well done Naruto. Give me the scroll."

"Answer one question first. What do you need with the scroll of seals teme?" Naruto asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Orochimaru-sama needs the scroll for something he's working on. So give me the scroll so I can be on my way and you can go play ninja somewhere else." Mizuki replied.

"And what if I decide not to give you the scroll and tell hokage-sama about all this?" Naruto asked.

"Give me the scroll and I will tell you why everyone in the village hates you." Mizuki stated.

Just then Anko jumped from her hiding spot. "Hidden shadow snakes." She shouted as snakes flew from her sleeve towards Mizuki. Mizuki took the large shuriken off his back and slashed the snakes apart.

"Don't even think about saying anything about that Mizuki." Anko seethed.

"Don't you think he has the right to know?" Mizuki asked.

While Mizuki was distracted, Ino was sneaking up behind him. When she got close enough she jumped in the air and landed a spinning kick to the back of his head. Mizuki stumbled forward and was met with a vicious right hook from Anko. All of a sudden, he was wrapped in branches and unable to move.

"How do you have the mokuton?" Mizuki asked.

"I'm an Uzumaki, distant blood relative off the Senju. Now you pay for betraying the leaf." Naruto said with a smirk.

"And what can you possibly do?" asked Mizuki.

"Shadow clone jutsu." Naruto said as the entire area they were in was filled with clones. "You two may want to step back."

"Why?" asked Ino.

After Naruto and the two females moved back away, Naruto made a single hand sign. "Clone great explosion." Naruto said as the forest began to shake from the explosion.

Anko and Ino both looked at him with a confused expression. "Jiji taught me that jutsu. Causes the shadow clones to explode. Don't worry, I held the clones back enough so they wouldn't kill him." Naruto said as he headed back to the kage tower.

Naruto, Anko, and Ino walked into Hiruzen's office and Naruto returned the scroll. After Hiruzen sent some anbu to get Mizuki, Naruto decided to ask a question. "Hokage-sama, I need some answers. Mizuki was going to tell me why everyone hates me but Anko-nee stopped him. I also found this and was wandering if I come from a clan or something." Naruto said as he placed the scroll on the table.

Hiruzen sighed as he knew there was no way of getting out of this. "Ino, could you please excuse?" Hiruzen asked.

"She can stay. She can either hear it now or I will just tell her later." Naruto said.

"Very well. Naruto, you come from a clan known as the Uzumaki clan. They were masters in fuinjutsu and were feared for that very fact. They were from a village called Uzushiogakure in the Land of Whirlpools. During the last war, most of the villagers were eliminated. One of the survivors was your mother, Lady Kushina Uzumaki, princess of Uzushiogakure. Your father was Minato Namikaze, the fourth hokage of Konoha. Your mother was the jinchuriki, basically a prison of the nine tailed demon fox. When she gave birth to you, a masked man attacked and ripped the demon fox from your mother."

"Your father fought with the masked man and beat him enough to make the man make his escape. The only way for your father to beat the fox was to seal it once again. He decided to seal it inside of you since it wouldn't ask someone else to do what he wouldn't. He used the reaper death seal and with and your mother's last breaths, sealed away the kyuubi. The scroll is something we found in the Uzumaki compound and sealed away. Your parents wanted you to be seen as a hero not as the demon you hold. They both loved you very much Naruto." Hiruzen explained.

"So I'm heir to a clan and a prince to a country. Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner?" questioned Naruto.

"We wanted you to be able protect yourself first. We had no idea if anyone would try to kill you because of your father. He made a lot of enemies during his time." Hiruzen said.

"I want what is rightfully mine hokage-sama. The compound, the scroll, everything." Replied Naruto.

"You will get everything that is left that belongs to you Naruto. You are taking this quite well." Anko said.

"Sure they're my parents and I'm happy that I had family that loved me but they screwed my life over pretty bad. Anko-nee is my family now and that's what matters. I'm heading home, have to get ready for team placements tomorrow." Naruto replied as he left the office.

"You can't tell anyone else about this Ino, understand?" asked Hiruzen.

"Of course Hokage-sama." Ino bowed and left the room headed home. _"Hated for something he had no control over, how stupid are these villagers? Plus, he's a prince to a country, wonder if I could be his princess?"_ Ino wondered as she walked down the street.

(Next day)

Naruto and Ino were two of the first ones in the classroom that morning. The only other two were Shino and Shikamaru. As more and more people filed into the room, Naruto kept receiving more and more stares. It was Kiba who decided to question his presence.

"What are you doing here Naruto? This is only for the ones who passed." Kiba said.

"I did pass. Iruka only failed me because the hokage asked him to. Don't ask because I can't tell you anything about it. Don't believe me, just ask Iruka." Naruto replied.

After Iruka came in and explained that Naruto did in face pass, he began going over the list of teams.

"Team seven, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Chouji Akimichi. Sensei Kakashi Hatake."

"Team eight, Shikamaru Nara, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. Sensei Kurenai Yuhi."

"Team nine is still in rotation from last year. Team ten, Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, and Kiba Inuzuka. Sensei Asuma Sarutobi. Everyone meet back here in three hours to meet your sensei." Iruka said before leaving the classroom.

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><p><strong>OK, there's chapter three. Next time will be the start of training and d-rank missions and all that fun stuff. Now before anyone complains about Naruto not having a heart or anything, a reviewer by the name of jh831 gave me the idea to do it this way. In most stories every time he learns of his heritage, he cries and gets all emotional and crap. I didn't want that in this story. He has Anko and that's all that matters to him until his family grows later on.<strong>

**And as for the third member, i like Kiba and decided to put him on the team. i also got a few last minute request for him so that's part of it too.**

**Anyway hope you enjoyed. Leave a review and let me know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay in updating, I got lost on the path of life. Lol, not really. My computer decided to crash so I had to have it fixed and rewrite this chapter from scratch. Plus I lost my job and had to go and find a new one so I'm not sure how often I will be able to update for a while. Anyway on with the chapter.**

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><p>Naruto, Ino, Akamaru, and Kiba sat in the back of the classroom waiting for their sensei. They had used the three hours to get to know one another a little better and were just waiting for their sensei to come get them. As they waited for their sensei, a few of the other teams were picked up by their sensei until there was only team seven, eight, and ten remaining in the classroom.<p>

A few minutes later, two people walked in. One was a tall, slender woman with black hair. Her eyes were a deep crimson color and she had purple eye shadow and red lipstick. She had a red mesh armor blouse with only her right arm being covered by a sleeve. She had some type of fabric material over top her shirt that reached from her shoulders down to about mid-thigh and had a rose thorn like pattern on it. Her hands and upper thighs were covered in bandages.

The second person was a tall, black haired man with a beard and a cigarette in his mouth. He wore the standard ninja outfit with his sleeves rolled up and a flak jacket over top his shirt. The only difference was the sash he wore around his waist with the kanji for fire on the front of it.

The woman was the first to speak up. "I'm Kurenai Yuhi, team eight follow me."

"I'm Asuma Sarutobi. Team ten, meet me at training ground ten in fifteen minutes." Asuma stated before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Team ten made their way out of the academy and ran off toward training ground ten.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the training ground and found their sensei setting under a tree smoking. They walked over to Asuma and joined him in the shade of the tree.

"What are we going to do first sensei?" asked Ino.

"First we are going to tell the others a little bit about us. Our hobbies and dreams, likes and dislikes, stuff like that. I'll go first, I'm Asuma Sarutobi. Son of the third Hokage and next head of the Sarutobi clan. I like smoking and a certain special woman. There isn't much that I dislike, the biggest would be those who mistreat others. My dream is to one day retire and settle down with a family." Asuma explained taking another puff of his cigarette before motioning towards Kiba.

"I'm Kiba Inuzuka and this is Akamaru. I am the next head of the clan after my big sister Hana. I like helping my mom with the ninken and playing with Akamaru. I don't like those who hurt others or animals. My dream is to take over as head of the Inuzuka clan." Kiba said with Akamaru adding in a few barks in agreement before Asuma gestured towards Ino.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka and heiress to the Yamanaka clan. I like working with various plants and flowers and helping my parents in the flower shop. I also like spending time with Naruto-kun and the rest of my friends. The thing I dislike the most are people who think they are better than everyone else. My dream is to have a family and take over the flower shop after my parents." Ino replied with a small blush as she looked over at Naruto with the idea of having a family with him.

"Some of the things I am about to say are ss-class secrets and cannot be repeated outside this group." Naruto said with a serious tone.

"Naruto, you can't say anything about that secret, that is why it is ss-class in the first place." Asuma stated with his full attention on Naruto.

"I have already talked to Hokage-sama about it. If we are going to be a team sensei, then there needs to be no secrets between us." Naruto replied getting a nod from Asuma in response.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, heir to the Uzumaki clan and prince of Uzushiogakure in the Land of Whirlpools. I'm the jinchuriki of the nine tailed demon fox, the kyuubi. I also have the mokuton kekkei genkai. My father was the yondaime hokage and my mother was Kushina Uzumaki, princess of Uzushiogakure. I like ramen, Ino-chan, Anko-nee, and my other friends. I don't like the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook, a certain snake-teme. My dream is to take over as hokage one day and the village and family I hope to one day have." Naruto said.

Asuma and Kiba both were shocked. Asuma knew of the kyuubi and Naruto's heritage, but he didn't know Naruto was a prince or had the same kekkei genkai of the shodaime hokage. Kiba was shocked from all the information. Everything was starting to make sense now. Why the villagers hated him and why no one ever wanted to be around the blond.

"Now that you know this, what do you think of me now?" Naruto asked looking towards Kiba.

"I don't see you any differently Naruto. You're still the same blond goofball that I've been friends with since the beginning of the academy. Only thing hard to believe is that you're royalty." Kiba said with a chuckle.

"Well, now that all that is out of the way, you all need to report back here tomorrow for your final test to see if you become genin or not." Asuma said shocking the three kids.

"What do you mean final test? Isn't that what the graduation exams was for?" asked Kiba.

"That was to see if you had the potential to become ninja. Only thirty-three percent of academy graduates actually go on to become genin. Your final test will be given to you tomorrow morning. Meet me back here at nine o'clock." Asuma explained before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"What do you think the test will be?" Ino asked turning to look at Kiba and Naruto.

"Hard to tell, could be anything from fighting sensei to him setting up some type of training mission. Won't know till we get here tomorrow." Naruto replied as he turned to walk off.

"Where you going Naruto?" Kiba asked.

"There's something I want to try and I figured I might as well do it while I have the time." Replied Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well I'm headed home, see you two in the morning." Kiba said with Akamaru barking his goodbye.

"Care if I tag along Naruto?" Ino asked hoping he said yes.

"I don't mind, actually you might be able to help me with this." Naruto replied as Ino caught up with him.

"Really, what do you need my help with?" Ino asked now curious to what her fellow blond was planning.

"I want to enter my mind. I have never tried anything like that before and with you coming from a clan of mind walkers, I thought you might be able to help me." Naruto explained.

"I should be able to help but can I ask why you want to enter your mind all of a sudden?" replied Ino.

"I want to see if I can communicate with the demon fox. I want to try and find out why the fox decided to attack Konoha like it did." Naruto replied shocking Ino even more.

"You can't be serious Naruto. You actually want to try and talk with the kyuubi, the strongest bijuu around just to chat?" Ino basically screamed at her blond friend.

"Yeah, that about says it. So you wanna help?" Naruto asked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I don't know why but yeah I'll help. I should probably be afraid more of your mind then the demon fox though." Ino stated with a laugh as she ran off towards Naruto and Anko's place.

"Thanks Ino-ch" Naruto started to say before he realized what Ino had said. "Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean? My mind ain't that bad." Naruto yelled out as he chased after his friend.

A few minutes later, the two pre-teens were setting in Anko's living room floor. Anko was currently out on a mission so they weren't worried about anyone else distracting them. "So how does this work Ino-chan?"

"First, I'll go into your mindscape. After that you will start to feel a small pull from the inside of your body, don't fight it and just allow me to pull you into your mindscape. From there we just have to find where the fox is and you should be able to speak to him." Explained Ino.

After receiving the go ahead from Naruto, Ino ran through a few hand signs before placing her hands on Naruto's temples. "Mind Walk Jutsu." At first, Naruto wasn't sure if it had worked or not. But after a minute or two, he felt the pull that Ino was talking about. Naruto closed his eyes and allowed himself to be pulled into his mindscape.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a hallway with pipes running along the walls and ceiling. There was also about two inches of water on the floor. "No offense Naruto-kun, but your mind is seriously a dump."

Naruto turned to find Ino looking around the hallway they were in. "I can't help it, first time I've ever been here. Come on, we need to find that fox." Naruto said as the duo took off down the hall.

After about ten minutes of walking, they came to a large room with a giant gate that reached from the ceiling to the floor with a paper tag with the kanji for seal on it. "Well, I'm guessing this is most likely the place you're looking for Naruto-kun." Ino said looking around the room.

As the duo moved closer to the gate, two large, crimson eyes appeared in the darkness behind the bars of the gate. A few seconds later, a large red-orange furred fox stepped out of the darkness and sat down in front of the gate with its nine tails flowing around it. The two kids looked up at the fox with fear, Ino being a little more afraid move slightly behind Naruto.

"**There is no reason to be afraid. I can't attack you even if I wanted to because of this seal. Why are you here young one?" **Asked the fox in a deep voice.

"I just wish to talk Kyuubi-san. I would like to get some answers about a few questions I have." Naruto said as he sat down in front of the gate.

"**I will answer each question to the best of my ability. And the name's Kurama, not kyuubi-san." Replied the fox.**

"Why did you attack the village twelve years ago?"

"**I wasn't in control of myself at the time of the attack. The seal on a jinchuriki in weakest during child birth. During the time of your birth, a masked man with the sharingan ripped me out of your mother and placed me under his control. Your father fought with the masked man but by the time he beat the man, the damage had been done. Your parents used what little bit of strength they had left and gave their lives to reseal me into you. I promised your mother I would look after you and get revenge the masked man, however the seal that your father used put me to sleep for the last twelve years. The only help I could offer was healing your wounds."** Explained the kyuubi.

"You said this man had the sharingan which would make him an Uchiha. The Uchiha clan were wiped out a few years ago by one of their clan members so this masked man may already be dead." Ino stated from her seat next to Naruto.

"**I don't think so. The man that ripped me from Kushina didn't smell like he was from Konoha. People from each of the five major villages have a distinct smell to them from their village. This man didn't smell like any of the villages. He is still out there somewhere." **Kurama said as he laid his on his paws.

"Will you help me to get stronger Kurama?" Naruto asked the bijuu.

"**Why do you wish to become stronger kit?"** Kurama asked curiously.

"If there are people like this masked man out in the world, I want to be able to protect those that are precious to me. Since we are going to be stuck together for the foreseeable future, I won't demand that you help me, I just ask that you will help. I don't want it to be a constant game of tug-of-war between the two of us." Naruto stated in a serious tone.

This answer seemed to please the great bijuu as he raised his head and nodded. **"Very well, I will help you. It will not be easy and there will be a lot to learn. One thing you must know is that rage is a bijuu's strongest emotion which makes it a stronger emotion for the jinchuriki as well. Until you fully master the powers of the bijuu, the rage can over run you at any time." **Stated the kyuubi as one of his tails reached through the bars and touched Naruto's forehead.

"What was that for?" asked a confused Ino.

"**That will allow Naruto and I to communicate telepathically. Either one of us can cut the connection at any time so we will still have our privacy. It also gives Naruto heightened senses to that of a kitsune like greater smelling and hearing. Now it's time for you to go, it's getting late and you two have your test tomorrow and need rest." **Explained Kurama as he started to push them out of the mindscape.

"Thanks you Kurama." Naruto said with a bow as he and Ino vanished.

"_**Could he be the one you talked about father?"**_ thought Kurama as the two kids vanished.

(Real World)

When Naruto and Ino opened their eyes, they found it was already dark out. "Would you like me to walk you home or do you just want to stay the night?" asked Naruto.

"Mom and dad both are out on missions so if you don't mind I will spend the night here." Replied Ino.

"I don't mind, you can have my bed tonight and I'll sleep on the couch." Naruto said as he stretched out on the couch.

Ino stood and started her way down the hall. "Good night Naruto-kun."

"Good night Ino-chan."

(Next Morning)

Team ten stood in the middle of training ground ten waiting for their sensei to give them their test. They were a little annoyed that they still had another test to take, but all three were ready to do whatever it took to become genin. They had only been waiting for about ten minutes when Asuma appeared a few feet away from them in a swirl of leaves.

"So sensei, what's our test? Also where is the real sensei? You have a cigarette but I can't smell any of the smoke or anything meaning you must be a clone or something." asked Kiba.

"The real me is around here somewhere. As for your test, you have till noon to find me. I have a scroll on my person that you must retrieve. Do that and you pass, you need to come at me with the intent to kill as I will do the same with you. Your time starts now." Asuma said before poofing away.

"So how do you two want to go about this?" Ino asked turning to her teammates.

"Asuma-sensei is a jonin, so the only way we are going to even have a shot at passing is with teamwork. First we need to find him though, let's go." Naruto replied as the trio jumped off into the forest.

Asuma had been hiding in the forest for about fifteen minutes since his clone dispersed itself. He was sitting close to the top of a tree waiting for any sign of his team. Just then he felt three chakra signatures coming his way. A few seconds later, he saw his team pass right underneath him. He watched them jump from tree to tree never even noticing him. He started to follow but had to jump away to avoid the kunai imbedded itself where he had been moments before.

Looking in the direction the kunai came from, he saw the trio standing in a nearby tree. "So I'm guessing the other three were shadow clones then?" Asuma asked receiving a nod from Naruto.

Asuma pulled out a set of trench knives and got into his taijutsu stance. "Well no sense in trying to hide anymore. Let's see what you three got."

Kiba was the first one to move as he jumped straight for Asuma. He went for a right hook to Asuma's cheek but Asuma easily side stepped the punch. Kiba then spun low and tried to take out his sensei's legs. Asuma jumped up and away from Kiba and landed on a nearby tree branch. He then had to dodge a kick to his head from Naruto. Naruto landed and shoved off the tree at Asuma intending to plant his knee in Asuma's gut. The knee connected and there was a poof of smoke. When the smoke cleared, there was a log where Asuma had just been.

Asuma landed a few feet away and stopped a punch from Ino. Ino tried to hit him with her other fist only for that one to be stopped as well. Asuma didn't expect what she did next as she performed a back flip and kicked him in the chin snapping his head back and freeing herself in the process. As Asuma staggered backwards, Ino rushed in and tried to kick Asuma only for her leg to be grabbed and she was thrown into Kiba. As the two collided with each other, they burst into smoke shocking Asuma.

"So where are the real Kiba and Ino?" Asuma asked turning to Naruto.

"Right behind you actually." Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Come on now, do you really think I would fall for that?" Asuma asked.

Just then, Asuma heard a shout behind him. "Fang over fang." Asuma just barely managed to avoid the spinning duo of Kiba and Akamaru. As he landed back on the ground, he saw Naruto out of the corner of his eye going through hand signs.

"Wood style: wood spikes." This caused Asuma to once again start moving to avoid each spike that rose from the ground and trees. As he continued to dodge each spike, he was unaware of Ino appearing above him. Naruto saw her closing in on their sensei and stopped his attack, confusing Asuma. "Lightening style: lightening palm." As Ino yelled out her jutsu, Asuma turned to face her and was met with a few quick strikes by her lightening covered hand.

Asuma jumped away and rubbed the wounded spots where he had been hit. "Almost feels like getting hit by a Hyuuga."

"It's based off the Hyuuga gentle fist but since I can't see the tenketsu, I focus on the body's pressure points instead. Plus with my lightening affinity and the snake style that Anko taught me, it makes for a really effective attack." Explained Ino with a smile.

"You three are a lot better than I originally thought. But let's see how you handle this. Fire style: ash pile burning!" Asuma yelled as a large cloud of gun powder was released from his mouth. He then clicked together a piece of flint in his mouth causing the powder to ignite and head straight for his team.

"Earth style: earth wall!" Naruto shouted acting quickly blocking the jutsu. After the explosion stopped, Naruto released his jutsu and found the area still covered in smoke and dust. "Wind style: great breakthrough." Naruto said as he launched a wave of wind into the smoke cloud blowing it away.

Right as the smoke cleared, Kiba and Akamaru ran towards Asuma and started spinning once again. Asuma tried to dodge it in time but was hit in the leg, as he landed he stumbled from the cut in his leg. "Wood style: four pillar prison." Naruto said as Asuma was surrounding by a prison of wood.

"We win sensei." Kiba stated with a tone of victory.

"How so? I still have the scroll." Asuma replied.

Ino walked up beside her two teammates and ran through a quick set of hand signs. "Mind transfer Jutsu." She said before her body went limp and was caught by Naruto. Asuma then stated looking through his pockets before pulling out a scroll and tossing it to Kiba. A few seconds later and Ino was back in her own body and the trio stood smiling at that sensei.

"Congratulations you three, you pass. Meet tomorrow morning at eight at the hokage tower for your first mission." Asuma said with a smile on his face.

Naruto undid his jutsu and the four ninja left the forest. Asuma was looking forward to seeing what his new team could do and the three genin were eager to start their career as a ninja.

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><p><strong>So there's chapter 4. Hope everyone enjoys. Let me know how I did with the test. I decided to give Ino lightening for now, later on she will get water but for right now she just has lightening.<strong>

**Narutowiki says that Kiba has an earth affinity. I was thinking about changing this to fire. I mean seriously, a flaming fang over fang would look amazing. Let me know what you all think. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, how's it going? Sorry bout the absence, been working on one of my other stories and kinda forgot about this one. But I'm back with a new chapter and I hope you all enjoy.**

**Before I forget this again. I don't own Naruto or any other characters from any other game or anime. Thank you.**

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><p>It had been a month since team ten started their missions. That is if you could even call them that, they were nothing more than daily chores. Thanks to Naruto and his clones, team ten was able to completeclose to a hundred d-rank missions and still have plenty of time for training. Naruto was currently setting on top of his and Anko's house reading over a few scrolls he had gotten from Hiruzen that were from his parents. When Naruto wasn't spending all his time doing missions and training, he was reading over scrolls left by his parents. He hadn't even had time to look at the Uzumaki estate that was left to him.<p>

His mother had left him information on where the Uzumaki clan came from and just how much Naruto was actually going to inherit. His father had left him scrolls on two of his most powerful jutsu, the hiraishin and the rasengan. He also received a scroll about fuinjutsu from both his parents. As soon as Naruto read over the fuinjutsu scroll, he hoped to be able to master fuinjutsu and removing the seal that Anko had from the snake-teme.

The last scroll he had to look over was the summoning scroll he had gotten from the scroll of seals. He opened and began looking over it when he felt a chakra signature join him on the roof. "Morning Naruto-kun. What are you doing?" Ino asked as she sat down next to her fellow blond.

"Just looking over some of these scrolls before we meet Asuma-sensei for our next mission." Replied Naruto while trying to figure out which summoning contract his family had.

"**It is the fox summoning contract kit. I created it myself after befriending my first container Mito Uzumaki. When you open the scroll, you will need to sign your name in blood with your hand print beside it. That is if you would like to have the fox clan as a summoning contract." Kurama explained.**

Naruto just nodded before doing as Kurama explained while also explaining what was going on to Ino.** "Alright Naruto, just make the hand signs on the scroll then slam your hand on the ground. Just like your nee-chan does for her snakes."**

Naruto ran through the hand signs and slammed his hand down. "Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto yelled. There was a small puff of smoke and when the smoke cleared, there was a small brown fox with five tails sitting there. The fox took a minute to look around before his gaze landed on the two blonds in front of him.

"Hello, I am Genmaki. I am the advisor to Ahri, queen of the foxes. May I ask who you are?" asked Genmaki.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki and this is Ino Yamanaka. Nice to meet you." Naruto replied as Ino just waved.

"I don't mean to be rude, but Uzumakis have red hair. How do I know you are telling the truth?" asked the small fox.

"**Kit, make a shadow clone. I'll take over the clone so I can talk with Genmaki."** Kurama said from within Naruto's mind. A few seconds later there was a shadow clone among the group, the only difference was the red eyes.

"**Hello Genmaki. This kit before you is indeed an Uzumaki. I'm sure you remember his mother, Kushina Uzumaki don't you? Naruto here got all his looks from Kushina's husband."** Explained the clone in a deep, demonic voice.

Genmaki's eyes went wide hearing that demonic voice. "Lord Kurama, is that you?"

"**Yes Genmaki, it is me."** replied Kurama.

"We had no idea you were resealed my lord. Queen Ahri thought you had been beaten enough and you hadn't reformed yet. She has been looking nonstop trying to find any sign of where you may reform at." Explained Genmaki.

"**Does the clan have such little faith in me?" **Asked Kurama.

"I didn't mean it like that my lord. It's just that we have had no idea what happened to you twelve years ago." Genmaki quickly explained while bowing to the Naruto clone.

"Umm not being rude, but who is this Ahri you keep talking about Kurama?" Naruto asked.

"**She is an eight tailed vixen and the strongest fox of our clan after myself. She is also my mate and my queen."** Kurama explained before turning back to the small fox. **"Tell your queen that once Naruto learns the summoning jutsu a little better, we will summon her if she would like. Also let her know that the foxes have a new summoner."**

The small fox bowed and left in a puff of smoke. "We should get going as well Naruto-kun. We need to meet Asuma-sensei to get our next mission." Ino said.

The clone Kurama had control off disappeared in a puff of smoke and Naruto and Ino began their way to meet with Asuma and Kiba. "Have you been to look at your estate yet?" Ino asked to break the silence.

"No, with all the training and missions I haven't had time. I haven't even had time to ask nee-chan if she would like to move in with me since I'm sure the place will have plenty of room." Naruto replied.

"Well when are you gonna go look at it?"

"If I have time I am going to try and look at it after our next mission is over." Naruto said as he and Ino arrived at the hokage tower. They made their way up the stairs to the mission room and saw Kiba and Asuma waiting on them.

Team ten stepped in just in time to hear the last Uchiha demand to be given something other than a d-rank mission. And of course Sakura had to squeal in agreement with her Sasuke-kun. The only one who wasn't making a scene was Choji who stood there happily enjoying his bag of potato chips. Sasuke and Sakura both were silenced once they felt the hokage's killer intent flood the room. After a few minutes of listening to the Uchiha being put in his face, Naruto had an idea to anger Sasuke even more.

Naruto stepped forward and bowed before Hiruzen. "Hokage-sama, permission to speak?" Naruto asked.

"Go ahead Naruto-kun."

"I have a deal for you. Allow teams ten and seven to take a co-operative mission of a ranking higher than d-rank, and I will tell you how to defeat that unbeatable enemy you call paperwork." Naruto said with a slight smirk knowing that the hokage would agree.

"Deal. Now what is the secret?" demanded Hiruzen. Sasuke and Sakura both were pissed at how easily Naruto had gotten the hokage to agree.

"Our mission first Hokage-sama." Asuma stated.

"Fine. Teams ten and seven are to escort a bridge builder by the Name of Tazuna back to the Land of Waves. Protect him from anything or anyone that may try to harm him till the completion of his bridge." Hiruzen explained as a tall drunk man walked into the room.

"These brats are supposed to be my protection? They look like they can't do anything, especially the two girls." Tazuna slurred out.

Naruto had to grab a hold of Ino to keep her from attacking the bridge builder. "Let me go Naruto. I'm gonna show this old fart just what I can do when I shove this kunai up his ass!" screamed Ino.

"Now, now Ino-chan, you can't kill the client. If you want to hurt him, you will have to wait till the mission in over." Naruto replied and that seemed to calm Ino a little.

"Now Naruto, I believe you know the secret I have been looking for?" asked the hokage.

"I thought that the God of Shinobi would have figured out such a simple solution. Just use shadow clones jiji. They do the work and you get the memories." Naruto laughed out.

The hokage was shocked that he hadn't thought about that before. He just let his head fall to the table in front of him as everyone except for Sasuke and Sakura laughed at his reaction.

"Alright teams meet at the gate in an hour and pack for a month trip." Asuma said with Kakashi nodded in agreement as both jonin disappeared in a shunshin.

After everyone left the mission room, Naruto and Ino were walking together back to Ino's place so she could pack and tell her parents. After a few minutes of walking, they made it to the Yamanaka flower shop and went into the main house area in the back of the store.

"Mom, dad, I'm back." Ino called out as she and Naruto stepped into the living room.

"Morning Noriko-san." Naruto said with a bow.

"Naruto stop the bowing and the formalities. I've told you it's either Noriko or mom. You know I see you like a son." Noriko replied as she gave Ino and Naruto a hug. Ever since Naruto had saved her little girl from the boys that were bullying her, Naruto and Ino had begun to hangout more and get closer. The more he came around the Yamanakas, the more Noriko claimed him as a son, and secretly hoped that one day he would be, well a son-in-law at least.

"Sorry mom. We just stopped by so Ino could pack and let you know we have a mission." Naruto replied.

"How long will this missions take?" asked Noriko.

"Not sure mom. Asuma-sensei said we need to pack for a month at least. We're heading to the Land of Waves to protect a bridge builder until he finishes his current project." Ino explained as she came back downstairs from her room with her storage scroll on her side.

"Well your father is on a mission right now so I will let him know when he returns. You two be careful and look out for each other." Noriko said as she gave them both a hug before they left. The blond duo then headed towards Anko's house so Naruto could pack as well.

They made it to Anko's place and found Anko sitting at the kitchen table eating dango. "Hey nee-chan, got a mission to Land of Waves. Told to pack for a month, not really sure how long we'll be gone." Naruto said as he ran up the stairs.

Ino walked over and sat down across from Anko. "Morning nee-chan." Ino greeted.

"Morning Ino-chan. So, finally got a mission outside the village huh?" Anko asked as she and Ino made small talk waiting on Naruto. After a few minutes, Naruto returned with his own storage scroll and ready to go. Before heading for the door, Naruto stopped and looked back at Anko.

"Umm… nee-chan, can I asked you a question?" Naruto asked.

"What is it ototo?" Anko replied.

"I was going to go and look at my family's compound when I get back. I'm sure it will be a decent sized place and was wandering if you would care to move there with me nee-chan?" Naruto asked.

Anko thought about it for a few minutes before deciding on an answer. "I'll give you my answer after we see what the compound looks like ok."

Naruto nodded before giving Anko a hug and rushing out the door with Ino in tow. When they arrived at the gate, Sasuke, Kiba and Akamaru were already there. After another ten minutes of waiting, the rest of their teammates and sensei along with Tazuna arrived, the group then set out for Wave country.

-XXX-

It had been a peaceful four hours so far. They had been making good progress with no problems at all. As the group continued walking, Asuma and his team and Kakashi noticed a puddle on the side of the road. Now this would have been normal except for one thing, it hadn't rained in about two weeks. Giving slight nods to each other, they continued to walk along and pretended to not notice the puddle. As they passed the puddle, two cloaked figures rose out of the puddle and a chain of shuriken surrounded the two jonin sensei before slicing them into pieces. Team seven began to panic a little as they took up a defensive formation around Tazuna.

"The Demon Brothers, missing nin from Kirigakure." Naruto said as he remembered hearing of them from Anko. Naruto then began to go through hand signs as the demon brother rushed Naruto. "Earth Style: Earth Spikes." Naruto said as spikes began to rise from the earth causing the demon brothers to jump backwards dodging the attacks.

Ino appeared in the air above the missing nins finishing up her own set of hand signs. "Lightening Style: Thousand Needles of Paralysis!" Ino shouted as lightening shot from her hands as it took on the form of needles and headed for the demon brothers. The needles hit their mark causing the brothers to begin to spasm as they headed for the ground.

One more shout was heard as the demon brothers neared the ground. "Fang over fang." Kiba and Akamaru came flying towards the falling duo as they began spinning at a ferocious speed, hitting the two missing nins in the chest, sending them flying into a tree and knocking them out.

Naruto and Kiba tied the duo up before Naruto turned to a nearby tree. "You can come out now guys."

A few seconds later, Asuma and Kakashi appeared with a smile on Asuma's face. "Good job you three. Very well done with the team work." Asuma complimented. Kakashi and Asuma took Tazuna off to the side for a small talk. After the conversation between the three and everyone voting to continue the mission, the group took off once again.

They walked for a few more hours at a quicker pace wanting to reach Tazuna's place as soon as possible. As they continued walking, the fog around them got a bit thicker. Naruto noticed movement in the bushes and through a kunai into the bush. Walking over to the bush and found a dead rabbit. He ignored Sakura's screeching about scaring them as he looked over the rabbit.

"**Kit, that rabbit is a snow rabbit. Its fur should have changed meaning it has been kept inside. That could onl…"** Kurama stopped as he heard a noise coming at them. **"Kit down now!"** yelled the fox.

"Everyone down!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Ino and pulled her down with him as a large sword flew over their heads and imbedded itself in a tree. As the genin and their sensei got back up, they saw someone standing on the sword handle along with someone else standing near the base of the tree.

Asuma and Kakashi's eyes widened on seeing the two people. "Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the hidden mist." Kakashi started.

"And Ichigo Kurosaki, the soul reaper of the hidden mist." Asuma finished.

"The Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. This should be fun." Zabuza laughed with Ichigo joining in.

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><p>"<strong>Well there you go, chapter 5 is done. I know it isn't the longest chapter and I'm sorry about that. My only reason for this is that the wave arc has been done every way possible since it wasn't one of the bigger arcs of Naruto. Next chapter will more than likely finish this arc up, mainly because I'm looking forward to writing the chunin exams. I have quite a few ideas that I am currently working on.<strong>

**As for Ichigo being in this, I just needed someone to throw in there since there are two jonin on this mission. And I thought why not put in another badass swordsman like Ichigo.**

**Well anyway, leave me a review and let me know what you think. All reviews are appreciated **

**Until next time, peace. **


	6. Chapter 6

Kakashi and Asuma were facing off with the two jonin level missing nin as the six genin took up a guard position around Tazuna. The two sensei were holding their own against the missing nin duo and seemed to be pushing for the victory. That was until Zabuza used his hidden mist jutsu and covered the area in a thick mist giving them the advantage. As the genin tried to see through the mist, sounds of battle were heard before the mist disappeared revealing Asuma and Kakashi trapped in two water spheres with Zabuza holding his hands in each sphere. Both teams of genin looked on in surprise.

"Now to play with you little genin." Ichigo said as two clones of Zabuza formed from water beside him.

"You won't beat us so easily." Sasuke stated with a smirk.

"As much as I hate to agree with the teme, he's right." Naruto added in.

"Well, why don't we see about that? Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo yelled as he swung his sword in a wide arc sending out a slash of chakra flying at the genin.

"Earth Style: earth wall." Naruto said as a wall of rose up and stopped the attack causing dust and dirt to fly up. In the middle of the dust cloud, no one noticed Naruto make two clones who quickly disappeared into the forest. Sasuke then jumped into the air as the dirt began to settle and launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken aiming for the real Zabuza. Ichigo jumped and stopped the weapons with the flat of his sword as a mizu bunshin kicked Sasuke back the ground.

"Zabuza is a jonin level ninja and I'm sure Ichigo isn't too far off, you can't take them out on your own." Kiba said as Sasuke stood back up.

"I am an Uchiha, an elite. I can do anything." He screamed as he ran through hand signs. "Fire style: fire ball jutsu." A large fire ball flew from Sasuke's mouth and headed for Ichigo. Naruto just sighed as he ran through his own hand signs. "Wind style: gale palm." Naruto clapped his hands together as a large blast of wind combined with the fire ball increasing its size.

"Water style: water wall." The two water clones yelled as they jumped in front of Ichigo spewing water from their mouths. As the fire ball met the water wall, the two attacks caused a thick layer of steam to rise and cover the field.

"My clones are almost in place, just another minute or two." Naruto whispered to Kiba and Ino. His teammates nodded as Ino ran through her own set of hand signs. "Lightning style: lightning current." Ino slammed her hands to the ground as lightning shot out of her hands using the water on the ground to move towards Ichigo and the water clones. The clones jumped to the side and Ichigo jumped back near Zabuza as Ino smirked. The attack then split in two different currents and followed after the clones keeping them dodging the attack.

"Fang over Fang" Kiba yelled as he and Akamaru came spinning in and ripping through one of the clones as Sasuke appeared behind the other with a kunai in it neck. Zabuza and Ichigo shared a look before Zabuza made another water clone and switched with it.

"The clones were only a tenth of my power. Let's see how well you do against all of it." Zabuza said as he and Ichigo stepped forward.

"Any last words?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah I have two. Bunshin daibakuha." Naruto said with a smirk. Zabuza and Ichigo began looking for the clones before they heard an explosion behind them. They turned to see a cloud of smoke where the water clone was holding their prisoners. Out of the smoke, Kakashi and Asuma dashed, Kakashi out with his hand covered in a blue crackling chakra and Asuma with trench knives covered in a blue chakra. They rushed the two missing nin, right before they made contact, the Zabuza and Ichigo fell to the ground with senbon in their necks.

"Thank you for weakening these two for me. I have been following them for a few weeks now. I will take them and dispose of them." A figure appeared beside the two downed bodies and disappeared just as quick with them.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked.

"Judging by the mask, it was a Kiri hunter nin. Their job is to track down missing nin from their countries and eliminate them." Kakashi explained before he and Asuma fell face first to the ground.

"Sensei, you alright?" Naruto asked.

"We're fine Naruto. Just tired and wore out." Asuma replied. Naruto nodded and made two shadow clones to carry the two sensei.

"How much further old man?" asked Naruto.

"About five more miles that way." Tazuna said pointing down the road.

Naruto nodded before making a few hand signs and slamming his hands on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu." In a puff of smoke, two foxes appeared. One was a pure white color, and the other was a deep black.

"I am Shiro and this is Hibiki." Explained the white wolf in a feminine voice.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki. I need you two to scout out down that road for the next five miles. Stay out of sight and return if you notice anything strange." Naruto explained.

"Understood." Replied Hibiki in a deep masculine voice.

"Since when do you have a summoning contract Naruto?" asked Chouji.

"Just recently." Naruto replied not wanting to reveal a whole lot.

"That doesn't explain much dobe." Sasuke stated.

"I will explain more when I feel the time is right teme." Naruto replied before walking off with his team and the two shadow clones carrying the sensei.

-XXX-

The next couple of days were spent training and guarding Tazuna after Asuma and Kakashi had realized that Zabuza and Ichigo weren't dead. Team ten was mostly in charge of guarding Tazuna since Kakashi hadn't really taught his genin a whole lot of anything. The two teams were currently having dinner with Tazuna and his daughter and grandson. The evening was going peaceful so far but Inari voiced what was on his mind the last few days.

Why do you guys bother to try so hard?! No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gato's men! No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, the weak will only end up getting killed!." Inari spoke from his place at the table.

"We ain't weak kid and we aren't going to be killed by Gato either. This place needs a hero and we Konoha ninja are just the ones to fill the role." Naruto replied with a smile.

"This village had a hero once, my step father. Everyone called him a hero and he promised to always be here but he was killed and left us all alone. Do you have any idea what it's like to be alone?" Inari asked.

Ino, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kiba looked over at Naruto to see him with his head down and his hair covering his eyes. Ino started to say something but was cut off by Naruto. "I do know what it is like to be alone. I was alone for the first five years of my life, my parents died the same day I was born. I am hated by almost my entire village for something I had no control over and I have had multiple attempts on my life because of it. The few people who do care were only able to do so much to help me because of our stupid civilian council. When I was five was the first time I actually got to have the feeling of a family when my nee-chan adopted me. Then I made friends starting with Ino-chan and her parents who became like my own, and all my friends from the academy. You may feel alone now Inari, but you have a mother and a grandfather who care for you. You have to move on Inari and quit crying like a baby all the time."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes before Naruto spoke up again. "I'm going out to train for a while." And with that said Naruto left.

"What did he mean?" asked Tsunami.

"Just like he said, Naruto is hated by a large part of our village because of something he absolutely no control over. He was always attacked until he was adopted by his older sister and even then there were still a few attacks on him. People are blinded by hate and can't see the boy for who he is." Asuma explained.

"I'm going to go check on whiskers." Ino said as she ran out after Naruto.

-XXX-

Ino searched for Naruto for about half an hour before she found him fighting against a hoard of clones. She watched for a few minutes as he fought through the clones blowing off steam. "You ok whiskers?" Ino asked as Naruto finished off the last clone.

"Yeah I'm fine. I shouldn't have let him to get to me like that." Naruto replied.

"Want to spar? I might be a bit more of a challenge than your clones are." Ino asked.

"Sure." The two spent the next couple hours just lightly sparring. By the time they finished, they both were exhausted and sat down against a tree. Ino leaned over on Naruto's shoulder and soon both blonds were out.

(Mindscape)

Naruto awoke to find himself in the sewer that was his mind scape. He walked down the hallway and into the room that held the kyuubi. Naruto walked forward and sat down in front of the cage as Kurama came out of the darkness.

"Hey there Kurama, I'm guessing you pulled me in here?" Naruto asked.

"**I did, I told you I would help you to get stronger and that starts now. I thought we could start working on the hiraishin that made your father as feared as he was. However, it will require quite a bit of chakra control."** Kurama explained.

Naruto got up and walked toward the seal and ripped a small piece from one of the corners. **"What was that for kit?"**

"I read in a scroll that my mom left for me that with a small piece of the seal removed, you will be able to manifest yourself into a small form outside my body." Naruto replied.

"**Why are you doing this kit, not that I'm not grateful, just curious?"**

"If you are gonna help me to get stronger, then I want to return the favor. It's gotta suck being stuck in this cage all the time." Naruto chuckled.

"**Thanks kit, now let's get started with your training."**

(Next morning)

Naruto woke the next morning after a night with training in his mind with Kurama. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ino staring at him. "What is it Ino?"

"There's a fox on your head Naruto." Ino said while pointing at the small red-orange furred fox.

"**It's just me kit."** Kurama said making Ino's eyes widen.

Naruto was about to say something but was interrupted by Ino. "He's so kawaii." Ino yelled as she grabbed the fox.

"**I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Strongest bijuu of the nine. I am not kawaii." **Shouted Kurama.

Just then Ino cuddled the small fox in between her breasts and started petting the fox. Kurama seemed to relax into the embrace and seemed to start purring. "Yeah, the great Kyuubi can be tamed by being cuddled into a pair of breast and petted." Naruto deadpanned.

"**We all have our weaknesses kit, a cute vixen just happens to be one of mine. Someone's coming and they have the same smell as that hunter nin that saved Zabuza and Ichigo." **Kurama said putting Naruto and Ino on alert as he went back in the seal.

Naruto and Ino sat there waiting for the person to reveal themselves. A few moments later and a girl with long black hair wearing a light blue kimono. The girl's eyes widened in shock but quickly tried to hide the shock of seeing the two ninja, although with his heightened senses Naruto saw the small action.

"Hello, I didn't think anyone would be out this far." The girl said.

"We were just out training last night and fell asleep out here. What's your name miss?" Asked Ino.

"My name is Haku and I am a boy." Ino's eyes widened since she thought the boy was actually a girl, Naruto just chuckled a little. "What's so funny?" asked Haku.

"Deception is a ninja's greatest skill isn't it Haku? I have greater senses than most people, I know you're a girl by the way you smell." Naruto said. "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone. What are you doing out here anyway?"

"I am collecting herbs for my father. He was hurt in an accident a few days ago." Explained Haku.

Naruto and Ino looked at each other and gave a slight nod. "How is Zabuza and Ichigo?" Ino asked causing Haku's eyes to go wide in shock as she pulled a few senbon from her basket.

"How did you know?" Haku asked.

"Like I said, I have better senses. Your smell is the same as the hunter ninja that took Zabuza and Ichigo. I want you to take me to see them Haku." Naruto said.

"I can't do that. I can't risk you attacking them." Haku replied.

"I don't want to attack them, I just want to talk. I give you my word Haku and I never go back on my word." Naruto said with a smile.

"Very well, but the girl comes too. I can't have her bringing anyone else to our hideout. If I even think you are gonna attack my father and brother, I will not hesitate to kill you." Haku said in a serious tone.

"Naruto, are you sure about this?" Ino asked. Naruto just nodded as they began to follow Haku.

-XXX-

Naruto and Ino followed Haku for close to an hour until they came to a small hideout in the forest. Haku lead the two blonds in the small house. As soon as Ichigo saw them, he grabbed his sword and stood in front of Zabuza who was lying on a bed. "What the hell Haku? Why did you bring them here?" Ichigo asked.

"He just wants to talk Ichigo. If they try anything the two of us are more than capable of stopping two genin." Haku replied.

"How about he let me have the girl then we can talk." Ichigo said while looking at Ino.

Naruto stepped in front of Ino with a kunai raised. "You touch her and your dead." Naruto growled out.

"That's enough Ichigo. What is it you want?" Zabuza asked from his place on the bed.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and this is Ino Yamanaka. I want to offer you three a chance to stay in one place without having to worry about being hunted anymore. You know Gato is only going to keep you around while you're of use to him. How do you know he won't kill you once you kill the bridge builder?" Naruto asked.

"He won't be able to kill me. He will be dead before he can get near me if he even tries." Zabuza replied with a smirk.

"Zabuza, think about those two." Naruto said pointing towards Ichigo and Haku. "Come back to Konoha with us and you won't need to run anymore."

Zabuza looked at the two he considered his own kids. Maybe settling down without worry would be a nice touch for the three. "Are you sure we will be welcome back at your village?"

"I will send a message to the hokage and let him know that you three will be coming back with us. I am sure you three can stay in Konoha." Naruto replied as he summoned Shiro and had her take a scroll back to the hokage explaining what was going on. Naruto and Ino spent a bit longer with Zabuza coming up with a plan to take out Gato once and for all.

-XXX-

When the two blonds returned back to Tazuna's house, they explained to Kakashi and Asuma what was going on. The two jonin were shocked to say the least, but knew if anyone could make a friend out of an enemy, it would be Naruto. The day came for Zabuza, Ichigo, and Haku to attack. They acted out there part just as the ninja did theirs.

Eventually Gato showed up just like expected with an army of thugs and bandits. Gato then got a shock when the missing nin and leaf nin teamed up to take out his army leaving him to suffer the wrath of the village. After taking their pay from Gato's wealth, they left the rest to the village to help it get back to its former state before the teams plus Zabuza, Ichigo, and Haku headed towards Konoha.

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><p><strong>And there's chapter 6, I know I rushed it, a lot actually but I really just wanted to get through this arc of the story. Hopefully not too many people will be mad at me for this chapter being rushed. I promise it will slow down next chapter starting with the chunin exams arc. For those who wanted to see Ichigo vs. Naruto, that will probably happen during the chunin exams. I need one more person to make a team with Ichigo and Haku, any ideas are appreciated. <strong>

**I will just be taking random names from different anime and games more than likely for the names of Naruto's fox summons, let's see how many people guess which foxes come from which anime.**

**With the chunin exams coming up I have to ask, are there any certain people you would like to see fight. I am keeping three fights the same though. Ino vs. Sakura, Naruto vs. Neji, and Sasuke vs. Gaara. Anyways leave me a review and let me know what ya think.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, just a quick little note before the chapter starts. I know you all are wanting faster updates and I am working on it I promise. The sawmill I work at is currently low on logs due to a lot of rain in West Virginia where I live so I am laid off work for the week of the 23-27. With that happening, I will try to get three updates out during that week but I can't promise anything since I still need to find work to support my wife and daughter, family isn't cheap lol. But with that said I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

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><p>It had been a few days since Naruto and company left Wave Country. Since they didn't have a civilian with them this time, they made the trip a lot quicker as they saw the large gates of Konoha come into view. Sitting at the gate were the two chunin responsible for monitoring those entering and leaving Konoha, Izumo and Kotetsu. When the group of eleven made it to the gate, Kotetsu spoke up.<p>

"Hokage-sama wants to see you Naruto at the council chambers along with your three friends. He said the rest of you are free to go until he calls you for your mission report." Stated the gate guard.

"Well since dad wants to talk to you first, meet us back at training ground ten about six o'clock. I have something I need to discuss with you three." Asuma spoke to his team before walking off.

"Tell nee-chan I'll be home after I'm done meeting with jiji." Naruto told Ino before turning to Zabuza, Ichigo, and Haku. "Come on you three, follow me." and with that the four ninja jumped off towards the council chambers with the others going to do their own thing.

-XXX-

Naruto, Zabuza, Ichigo, and Haku arrived at the council chambers and found the entire council waiting for them. Naruto walked to the middle of the room and bowed to the hokage with the other three quickly following. When a few of the council members saw the Demon of the Hidden Mist, their eyes almost popped out of their heads.

"Hello Naruto, I take it you all made it back with no problem? Who are your friends?" Hiruzen asked.

"Hai Hokage-sama. This is Zabuza Momochi, Ichigo Kurosaki. And Haku Yuki." Naruto said as he introduced each one.

"And you said in your letter that they wished to stay in Konoha and become ninja for Konoha as well." Naruto nodded his head in response.

"I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage of Konoha. This is Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane along with the civilian and ninja council. What can you bring to Konoha?" asked the hokage.

"I am a master at the silent killing skill. I am skilled at kenjutsu and can teach the younger generation of ninja both." Zabuza replied.

"I am the last of the Kurosaki clan from Kiri. I have a kekkei genkai, and I am also skilled at kenjutsu. Like Zabuza I can teach others the art of kenjutsu and can bring another clan to Konoha." Ichigo explained not seeing the smiles that crept up on the faces of the elders and the civilian council.

"I am the last of the Yuki clan also from Kiri and I too have a kekkei genkai, the ice release. I am skilled in the silent killing skill and I also have a few healing skills." Haku said last.

It was silent for a few minutes before Homura spoke up. "I vote for Zabuza to teach what he can to the ninja and for the two kids to be put into the CRA to keep the bloodlines going and rebuild their clans."

There were shouts of agreement from the other elders and the civilian council members. Suddenly the room was filled with killer intent. Everyone looked around for the source to see find it coming from Zabuza and Naruto standing in front of a slightly shaking Haku. She knew what the CRA was and she didn't want to be turned into a baby vending machine.

"She is not going into that fucking act whatsoever." Growled Zabuza as he placed his hand on Kubikiribocho's hilt.

"You have no say in this Zabuza. If you want to be part of Konoha, you must learn to follow Konoha's laws and acts." Danzo said.

Zabuza grabbed Naruto by his shirt collar and lifted him till he was face to face. "You said we would be safe here. You never said anything about those two being put in that fucking act."

"Don't worry Zabuza, I gave you my word and I never go back on my word. She won't be placed in that act and neither will he unless he wants to be." Naruto replied with a calm expression in the face of Zabuza.

"You have no say in this!" Screeched Mebuki Haruno causing everyone to cover their ears.

"Actually he does." Hiruzen said with a chuckle.

"What are you talking about Hokage-sama?" Asked Inoichi confused to what his hokage was getting at.

"Go ahead and tell them Naruto." Hiruzen said.

"There is an act called the Uzumaki Protection Act. The wife of the first hokage, Mito Uzumaki, created the act with the help of Hashirama Senju shortly after they were married. The act states that any Uzumaki who lives in Konoha is not required to take part in the CRA." Naruto said as he walked to Hiruzen and took the paper and pen that he was holding.

"Is this true hokage-sama?" asked Koharu. Seeing the hokage nod, he continued. "So what, she isn't an Uzumaki, she still has to take part in the CRA."

Naruto handed Haku the paper and pen and waited till she read over it. Zabuza read it over her shoulder and both were surprised at what it was. Haku looked to Zabuza who just nodded before Haku signed it and returned it to Naruto who gave it back to Hiruzen before placing the hokage seal on it. Naruto took the paper back and returned it to Haku.

"What was that paper?" asked one of the civilian members.

"That was an adoption form. Haku is now my sister and an Uzumaki.** (Not really sure if this is a thing or not but hey it's fanfiction who cares lol.)** So therefore, she no longer has to take part in the CRA. I can do the same for you too Ichigo." Naruto said turning to said boy.

"I accept Naruto, thanks. I want one woman and one only." Replied Ichigo as he filled out the same paper that Haku did.

"You can't do this!" shouted Homura.

"He can and he did. You all should read up more on your acts and laws before trying anything else." Laughed Hiruzen. "I have a genin who has been looking for a team, I'll introduce you three tomorrow and see how things go from there. I'm sure you need to go and look over your new home and get everyone settled in."

"Speaking of that, what's the next big thing happening in the village Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked.

"The chunin exams will be starting at the end of the week. During the final part of the chunin exams, high ranking people from all over will be here to watch. Why do you ask Naruto?" replied the kage.

"I am planning on revealing everything soon and I want everyone to find out all at the same time." Naruto replied with a smile as he left with his new family.

"_I can just see all the problems that revelation is going to cause."_ Hiruzen thought to himself as he rubbed his head.

-XXX-

Naruto, Zabuza, Ichigo, and Haku made their way to Anko's place after leaving the council chambers. Walking through the door, they saw Anko and Ino sitting at the table. After explaining what happened during the meeting, everyone made their way toward the Uzumaki compound. After removing the blood seal on the gate, they walked into the compound. There was a two story building which Naruto assumed to be the house with smaller buildings around the grounds. A few of the smaller buildings were little one story houses big enough for one two people.

Behind the house, there was an enclosed hot spring. There was a large training ground next to the house with a building for all the training equipment with a small koi pond sitting in the corner of the compound. The group made their way inside to look around. It was traditional Japanese style house just like the rest around Konoha. Pictures lined the walls and the house was fully furnished.

Zabuza looked at one of the pictures on the wall and his eyes immediately went wide. Haku noticed this and was concerned. "What's wrong tou-san?"

Zabuza looked to Naruto before speaking. "Your parents are the Yellow Flash and the Red Death of Konoha?"

"Yeah why?" Naruto asked like it wasn't a big deal.

"Your father had a flee on sight order issued on him and your mother could go toe to toe with three or four of the hidden mist swordsman at once. They were both legends when they were alive." Zabuza replied in awe.

Naruto was surprised to hear this about his parents. Deciding find out more later he noticed the time and him and Ino had to get going. "Well, you all are more than welcome to stay in here if you like. As you saw I have plenty of room. Come on Ino, we need to go meet Asuma-sensei."

-XXX-

Naruto and Ino arrived to see Asuma, Kiba and Akamaru standing in the middle of the training grounds. As Naruto and Ino walked up to them, Asuma hand them each a slip of paper. "The chunin exams are coming up at the end of the week. I nominated you three to take part in them. You don't have to take them, but if you decide you want to, take the paper with you to the ninja academy at the end of the week to room 301. That's all I need you all for, go home and get some rest."

"Do you think we are ready for this?" Ino asked looking between her teammates.

"Of course, this is our chance to show everyone what we're made of." Kiba said with Akamaru barking in agreement.

"We got this Ino-chan. We'll take the exams and all become chunin together." Naruto said as he stuck out his fist. Soon Ino and Kiba both joined in and they all bumped fist before Kiba and Akamaru headed home.

"Want me to walk you home?" Naruto asked. Ino just smiled and nodded as she linked her arm with Naruto's and the duo headed home.

As they neared Ino's street, they heard some shouting coming from nearby and went to see what was going on. When they made it to where the shouting was coming from, they saw Konohamaru being held by his shirt by some guy in a full body black outfit, that looked like it had cat ears, and face paint. There was also a blond girl standing just off to the side. Naruto noticed they both had Suna hitai-ate's on.

"You really shouldn't be messing with the boy." Naruto spoke up getting their attention.

"The brat should learn to watch where he's going. He ran into me and now I'm gonna do the same to him." replied the boy as he pulled his fist back.

"I'm not sure how you all work in Suna, but here we don't go around hitting the Hokage's grandson." Ino said.

The girl face palmed as she let out a sigh. "Kankuro you moron, put the kid down before you get us kicked out of here."

The now named Kankuro dropped Konohamaru on his butt who quickly ran over to Naruto. "Whatever Temari, I'll just settle with messing with these two then."

"You alright Konohamaru?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah boss I'm fine. Glad you showed up when you did."

"Head on home Konohamaru, I'll take care of things here." Naruto replied as Konohamaru nodded before running off.

"Let's see what you got kid." Kankuro said.

Suddenly the area was filled with killer intent making Kankuro and Temari to freeze and Ino to move closer to Naruto. "Quiet Kankuro, or I'll kill you." Stated a monotone voice.

"**In the tree beside us kit. Don't start anything here, he has my youngest brother sealed inside him. The Ichibi, Shukaku." **Kurama explained.

"_Are you sure Kurama?"_ Naruto thought to the bijuu.

"**Of course I'm sure gaki. But like I said, don't start anything here. Shukaku usually mind fucks his container and turns them a bit crazy."** Replied the fox.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and this is Ino Yamanaka, who are you and why are you here?" Naruto asked turning to the tree and seeing a red haired boy.

"I am Gaara and these are my siblings Kankuro and Temari. We are here for the chunin exams." Replied Gaara.

"Seems you're just like me, I'm number nine." Naruto said causing Gaara's eyes to widen just slightly. "You all may want to stay out of trouble or you won't be able to take the exams."

With that said, Naruto took Ino's hand and started off for her house not noticing the blush that graced her face. Kurama appeared on Naruto's head and was immediately cuddled by Ino as he talked to the two about Shukaku.

-XXX-

Team ten walked into the academy with their exam slips in hand. Everything seemed normal with team ten except for Naruto now had a hooded jacket like Kiba. If you looked close enough, you could see two crimson eyes peeking out from underneath the hood. Team ten headed for the stairs to find room 301. They made it up the first set of stairs and was stopped by a large group of people wanting to get into the room.

"Umm… we haven't went up two floors yet have we?" Kiba quietly asked his teammates.

"**It's a genjutsu kits. They are probably trying to keep as many as possible from entering the exams. Just keep moving and don't make a scene."** Kurama explained.

As the group started to leave, team seven, or more precisely Sasuke, started causing a scene. ""I am an Uchiha, do you really think a simple-." Sasuke was cut off as Naruto grabbed him from behind and drug him away before he screwed up the test.

"Really Sasuke, are you really that stupid. The genjutsu they placed on that room was to weed out the weaker ninja. You seriously just about blew it." Naruto said while letting out a sigh.

"Don't talk to me like that dobe. A no clan loser like yourself has no right to talk to me like that." Sasuke yelled back.

"Whatever teme, we're out of here." Naruto said as he and his teammates started to leave. Right before they left, a boy in green spandex appeared and challenged Sasuke to a fight.

"Don't you want to see the fight?" Kiba asked.

"Nah, bushy brows has this. I trained with him and Gai-sensei when Anko-nee was training me to be a ninja." Naruto finished explaining as they made their way to the exam room.

When they got there, they were met by the glares of all the other ninja in the room. They noticed there were team from Oto, Suna, Ame, and a few other villages. Naruto saw the other genin from the academy and made his way to them and were soon joined by team seven.

"The rookie nine together again. This will be a blast." Kiba said with excitement in his voice.

"Hey, don't forget about us brats." Everyone turned to the voice to see Ichigo and Haku walking over with a boy dressed in all black with a black trench coat. He wore his head band on his upper left arm and had two swords strapped to his back.

"Ichigo, Haku I dint think you guys would be here." Ino replied.

"After our meeting with Hokage-sama and Naruto adopted us into his family, we were assigned to a team with Kirito and was told we could take part in the exams." Haku explained.

"How could the baka adopt you into his family, he doesn't have one. He is an orphan that nobody wanted." Sakura said causing Ino to start to move toward her with a kunai drawn but was stopped.

"Don't Ino-chan. She isn't worth it. Everyone will know the truth during the finals of the exam." Naruto said causing Ino to nod and put the kunai away.

"You guys shouldn't be making so much noise. You're gonna attract a lot more attention than you want to." Said a white haired boy with a Konoha headband.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked.

"The name's Kabuto. This is the seventh time I've taken these exams so I know a thing or two."

"**Don't trust this boy Naruto, he smells like snakes and not the kind of your sisters either." **Kurama said through the mental link getting a nod from Naruto.

"Man you must really suck." Kiba laughed out earning him a hit to the head courtesy of Ino.

"The exams get harder and harder each time. Although taking the exams this many times does come with a few benefits. I gather information on my opponents every time, any info you need I have." Kabuto said pulling blank cards from his pocket.

"Information on Rock Lee and Naruto Uzumaki." Sasuke said.

"Rock Lee has completed 55 d, 10 c, and 1 b-rank mission. He has been a genin under Might Gai for over a year now. He can't use ninjutsu of genjutsu so he focuses mainly on mastering taijutsu." Kabuto said as he pulled out another card and channeled chakra into it.

"Naruto Uzumaki has completed 124 d rank and 1 c rank turned b rank mission. He is a student of Asuma Sarutobi. He is proficient in ninjutsu and taijutsu but lacks in genjutsu. He has a kek-." Kabuto was cut off when Naruto slammed him against a wall with a kunai to his throat as he read over what was on the card before destroying it.

"Only the Hokage, my team, and a select few others know the last two things on that card. How the hell did you get that information?" Naruto asked quietly as he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Ino.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Ino asked worried.

Naruto stepped back away from Kabuto but kept his eyes on the man. "He knows about my mokuton and Kurama." Naruto whispered in her ear making her eyes widen.

"Everyone to your seats now, and Uzumaki, don't start fights in my room." Shouted a tall man dressed in black.

As everyone started moving to their seats, Naruto quickly summoned a fox. There was a light black fox with white paws and white tipped ears with two tails. "My name is Sachi, how may I help you?"

"I need you to do me a favor and keep an eye on that white haired man and let me know if he does anything suspicious." Naruto said pointing to Kabuto and getting a nod from Sachi who scurried off and Naruto took his seat.

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><p><strong>Sorry its bee a while since I updated. Been really busy. But like I said, I'm gonna try and update at least three times next week. I am really hoping I can get more chapters out for you all.<strong>

**As far as I can remember, I haven't described Naruto's clothing yet. He will not be in orange. I don't know what he will be in yet and I'm not going to describe them until the finals. What do you think Naruto and Ino's new outfits should be? I have a few ideas but I want to see what you all think. Let me know in a review or a PM.**

**Anyway leave a review and I will see you later.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well here is the first of three updates this week, hopefully. I hope you all enjoy.**

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><p>Naruto sat there as he listened to Ibiki explain the first test. He paled a little bit when he learned the first part was a written test. As Ibiki started the timer for the test, Naruto flipped it over and started looking over the test. As he read down the page, he noticed the questions started getting harder and harder causing him to get nervous.<p>

"**What's a matter kit?"** Kurama asked through the mental link.

"Taking test has never been my strong point. I just get real nervous when taking a test it's like my brain shuts down." Naruto replied.

"**You have to have a brain first for it to shut down. I'll help you out, since I've been around forever."** Kurama said with a snicker.

"Thanks fuzzbutt, I appreciate it." Naruto replied as he started writing down the answers Kurama was telling him. After writing down all the answers, Naruto looked back and saw Ino looking at him. Ino tapped the side of her head, Naruto nodded in response knowing what she wanted. Ino ran through the hand signs for her clan's technique as her mind went into Naruto's.

Ino got the answers from Naruto before returning to her body. She started to do the same for Kiba but noticed he was using Akamaru to get answers. As time went on, more teams got eliminated as they got caught cheating. Right before the timer went off, Ibiki explained the final question causing a few more teams to quit and leave the building.

After Ibiki explained that everyone that was left passed, a banner flew through the window and was pinned to the floor and ceiling by kunai. Naruto and Ino just sighed and shook their heads at Anko's actions as Naruto scribbled a small note on his test.

"You're early Anko." Ibiki said as he peeked around the banner.

Anko just shrugged as she counted the teams that were left. "You're getting soft on me Ibiki. There's still twenty-six teams left."

"Perhaps there are better genin this time around."

"Maybe, we'll see about that. Everyone follow me now." Anko said as she left out the window.

As the other genin began following Anko, Naruto hung back as Sachi jumped in his arms. Kurama returned to the seal as Naruto placed Sachi on his head under the hood. Ino and Kiba joined him as they followed Anko to the next test.

Ibiki began to collect the test of the first part. When he picked up Naruto's test, he saw the note Naruto left.

"_Ibiki-san, that Kabuto guy has the smell of snakes on him. Not the kind that nee-chan has but more like that of a certain snake-teme. You should probably warn Hokage-sama."_

"_Never a boring moment with that kid. Don't get yourself killed kid."_ Ibiki thought as he headed for the hokage tower.

-XXX-

"Were you able to find anything Sachi?" Naruto asked in a low whisper so only the four could hear.

"The only thing real suspicious was he kept motioning towards the female kusa ninja. Seemed like that were communicating through sign language. That's all I was able to get Naruto-sama." Replied Sachi.

"You did good Sachi, and please, no Sama stuff. I'm not one for formalities." Naruto said before Sachi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"So what should we do Naruto-kun?" Ino asked.

"Just continue on for now, I left a note telling Ibiki to watch Kabuto and he should be telling jiji right now. I'll warn Anko whenever we get where we're going, we'll just have to be extra careful for now." Naruto replied as they landed outside a large forest surrounded by a tall fence.

"Welcome to the next stage of the chunin exams, The Forest of Death. There is a tower in the center of this forest, you have five days to reach that destination. Each team will be given one scroll, either a heaven or an earth scroll. You will have to find a team that has the scroll you need and make your way to the tower. You will be facing each other, plus the various dangers that are lurking in the forest. Sign this papers and when you're called come and get your scroll." Anko explained as she handed out slips of paper.

"What are these for?" asked a random genin.

"Liability wavers, that way we can't be held responsible if you cute little genins go and die on us." Anko said with a sinister smile.

"Quit scaring everyone you crazy lady." Naruto shouted.

Naruto was met with a kunai grazing his cheek leaving a small cut. Anko soon appeared behind him with another kunai at his throat. "What did you call me kid?"

"The snake-teme is here somewhere, don't know where but he is definitely in Konoha. I can smell snakes on Kabuto and it ain't like yours nee-chan." Naruto whispered causing her to go wide-eyed for a minute. Just then, a kusa ninja with a long tongue gave Anko back her kunai.

"Be careful ototo, I'll look into it and see what I can find out." She whispered back before heading to a small building. "When you're called, come and get your scroll and head to the marked gate."

Slowly everyone began getting their scroll and headed to their gate number with their team. As the gates opened, everyone rushed into the forest. Team ten made their way into the forest about half a mile before Naruto stopped them.

"What is it Naruto?" Kiba asked.

"We need a plan to complete this. We should probably try and get an earth scroll as soon as possible and then head straight to the tower." Naruto said.

"Sounds fine with me, but what about Orochimaru? What if we run into him?" Ino asked.

"We'll just have to hope that we don't and if we do, then we will cross that bridge when we get there. We don't even know if he is in this forest with us, all we know is he is in Konoha somewhere. Hopefully nee-chan and Ibiki can figure out what he wants and why he's back." Naruto replied as the others nodded and the three ninja leapt off once again.

-XXX-

Team ten had been moving deeper into the forest for a few hours now with Naruto sending clones in different directions every so often. It was getting late and darkness was beginning to take over the forest. As they continued jumping through the trees, Kiba motioned for them to slow down.

"What's wrong Kiba?" Naruto asked.

"I can smell smoke not too far from here in that direction." Kiba said pointing toward the east.

Naruto soon caught scent as well as the group headed in that direction. They landed in one of the taller trees to observe the team. Judging by the headbands, it was a team from Taki.

"How should we do this?" Ino asked.

"As quietly as possible so we don't attract any unwanted attention or have to fight for the scroll. I can get a little closer and use my mokuton to wrap them up so we can get their scroll and leave." Naruto replied.

"What if they don't have a heaven scroll?" asked Kiba.

"We can still take their scroll, make it harder for other teams to advance to the next stage." Naruto replied getting nods from his teammates as they moved closer.

They landed on a branch that was about fifty feet above the Taki ninja as Naruto began growing through hand signs. "Mokuton: tangling vines." Naruto placed his hands on the tree as vines began sprouting from the tree and working their way to the ninja. The ninja didn't noticing anything until the vines were already wrapped around them. Ino and Kiba dropped done and began searching the ninjas as they tried breaking free.

"Got it, and we're in luck, it's a heaven scroll." Ino said as she pocketed the scroll.

"Good, let's get out of here and set up camp for the night. When we get far enough away I'll drop the jutsu on you guys." Naruto said as he and his team jumped off through the trees. They ran for about another three miles before they decided to set up camp for the night taking shifts to watch over the others.

-XXX-

After having a quick breakfast of fish they caught in a nearby river, team ten headed off for the tower once again. Naruto had clones off in every direction scouting for other teams. As they were moving through the forest, Naruto got the memories from one of his clones and let out a growl startling his two teammates.

"You alright man?" Kiba asked.

"Change of direction." Naruto said as he leapt off in a new direction.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Ino asked a bit worried.

"The snake is following team seven about a mile ahead. I remember nee-chan saying something about Orochimaru trying to use forbidden jutsu to gain immortality. I would say he wants Sasuke's body in order to accomplish this and get the sharingan as well. " Naruto replied causing Ino and Kiba to go wide eyed.

-XXX-

Team seven was walking through the forest looking for a group that had an earth scroll. Sakura and Chouji were ahead of Sasuke and neither of the three noticed the presence of the figure behind them. The figure's neck stretched out and made its way to Sasuke. The person opened its mouth to bite down on Sasuke when everyone heard a shout.

"Fang over Fang." Kiba shouted as he and Akamaru came spinning in toward the ninja. The person jumped back in time to avoid the attack as Ino and Naruto landed between team seven and the ninja.

"Orochimaru." Naruto growled out.

"So you know who I am. How did you figure that out?" the now named Orochimaru asked.

"You smell of snakes and not the kind that Anko-nee-chan has either." Naruto replied.

"How is Anko? It's been so long since I last talked to her."

"You'll never find out because I am gonna kill you here and now for everything you put her through. What do you even want Orochimaru?" Naruto replied as he eyes turned from blue to crimson. _"Kurama, how much power can you give me?"_

"**You can use one tail of power right now kit. You'll have to train more to use more than that. Be smart about this, he is a sannin for a reason."** Replied the fox as a red chakra cloak started to from around Naruto. His fingernails grew longer and looked like claws as he teeth began to sharpen and grow slightly.

"I just came to talk to Sasuke-kun is all. I can offer him the power he needs to find and kill Itachi." Orochimaru laughed out.

Sasuke took a step forward before Naruto stopped him. "Get out of my way dobe, if he can give me the power to kill Itachi then I will accept it."

"You don't need his power to kill Itachi. All you have to do it train harder and get stronger to beat him." replied Naruto.

"Shut up, I need all the power I can get. Itachi killed my entire clan just to test his skill. You don't know anything." Sasuke growled out.

"You're wrong Sasuke, I knew Itachi before Anko took me in and there are just somethings that don't make sense." Naruto replied keeping his eyes on Orochimaru.

"Like what?" Sasuke asked.

"Just get your team out of here and we will talk once you all make it to the tower, ok?" Naruto asked.

"Fine, but you better explain everything to me when we talk." Sasuke said before him and his teammates took off.

"You just caused me to lose my chance at having a new boy kyuubi brat. Now I'll just have to take yours." Orochimaru screamed as he rushed toward Naruto.

Orochimaru went to punch Naruto in the face aiming to knock him out quick. Naruto side stepped the punch as he brought his elbow up into Orochimaru's gut which was stopped by Orochimaru's other hand. Orochimaru jumped back as Ino tried to deliver an axe kick to the top of his head. Kiba came from behind thinking he could get him from behind and do some damage. As Kiba went to punch Orochimaru in the back of the head, Orochimaru side stepped and grabbed his fist and threw him into Ino causing both to hit a tree hard knocking them out.

"Hidden shadow snakes." Orochimaru yelled as snakes came flying from his sleeves at Naruto. Naruto rushed in as he sliced at the snakes with his sharpened claws destroying the snakes. Naruto flashed through some quick hand signs that Kurama had showed him.

"Fox art: demon fox flame bomb!" Naruto shout a large ball of fire from his mouth that took the shape of a fox head. The jutsu flew at Orochimaru and exploded as it made contact. Naruto smirked thinking he had won until the smoke cleared and he saw Orochimaru come out of the Kusa ninja's mouth.

"That one just about got me." Orochimaru laughed. "Wind style: great breakthrough."

Orochimaru put his hands forward as a large blast of wind shot toward Naruto. Naruto quickly ran through his own hand signs. "Earth style: earth wall." Naruto slammed his hands on the ground as a wall of earth rose up and protected him from the attack. He quickly made some clones and sent them around the area. As the earth wall was released, Naruto was met with a large dragon made out of water. With no time to dodge the attack, Naruto put his arms up and braced for the impact.

The water dragon hit Naruto and sent him flying back and landing next to his teammates. **"Kit, you're running low on energy here and since you haven't trained a whole lot with fire style, you used up a lot of chakra with that flame bomb. We need to get out of here why we can."**

"_I know and I'm working on that right now." _Naruto replied as he slowly stood up.

"You're not bad brat, but you didn't really think you could beat a sannin did you? Any last words?" Orochimaru asked.

"Yeah, bunshin daibakuha." Naruto said as his shadow clones jumped from their hiding spot and rushed toward Orochimaru. Orochimaru was surprised by this attack and didn't react in time as twenty clones rushed him and began exploding. Naruto took this chance to grab Ino and Kiba and took off as quickly possible. After the explosions quit, Orochimaru slowly stood up with cuts and burn marks all over his body.

"That brat got the Uchiha to escape and managed to wound me. He is dead next time I meet him." Orochimaru growled out in anger as he sunk into the ground.

-XXX-

Team seven was moving quickly away from the fighting when they heard an explosion. "Should we go back and make sure they're ok?" Chouji asked.

"No, that was the dobe's jutsu. I saw him using it one day while he was training. He won't go down so easily. Just keep moving so we can get our scroll and make it to the tower." Sasuke replied. _"You better make it Naruto, you have some explaining to do." _

-XXX-

Naruto found a tree with a hollowed out base with a river nearby. He laid Ino and Kiba down in the base of the tree and sat down to rest for a few minutes. **"You need to get some rest kit."**

"_After they wake up I will, someone has to watch over them." _Naruto replied to the fox.

About an hour later, Ino and Kiba started to slowly wake. As they sat up, they saw Naruto covered in bruises and deep cuts. Ino quickly rushed to his side to check on him. "Naruto-kun, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Ino-chan, just tired. Night." Was all he said as he fell over asleep on Ino's lap.

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><p><strong>Well there you go. It isn't the longest chapter but at least it ain't too short either. I am hoping to get at least two more updates out this week as long as everything goes well. Next chapter will have the talk between Naruto and Sasuke and a little more interaction between Naruto and Ino. The preliminaries should start close to the end of chapter 9 or beginning of chapter 10.<strong>

**helrio uzugaku left a review which gave me a pretty good idea for my story. It won't come into effect until after the finals though. Still, I thank you for the review.**

**Anyways, leave me a review and let me know how I did. Until next time, peace.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Well here is the next chapter. Only got 3 reviews last chapter, kinda bummed about that but oh well I guess. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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><p>Naruto slowly started to wake up from his peaceful sleep. As he opened his eyes, he quickly re-shut them due to the bright sun. After getting his eyes adjusted to the light and was able to keep them open, he tried to set up. That was when he noticed a weight on his chest keeping him from moving, looking down he saw Ino laying her head on his chest with her body cuddled up against his. Looking around he noticed Kiba and Akamaru sitting at the entrance to the hollowed out cave.<p>

Hearing movement, Kiba turned and saw Naruto awake. "So you're finally awake huh?"

"How long was I out and what happened?" Naruto asked.

"After Orochimaru attacked team seven, the three of us tried to hold him off long enough for them to escape. I went to attack him but he threw me into Ino and I guess knocked us out. Once we woke up, we were sitting here under this tree and you passed out shortly after we woke. Ino hasn't left your side at all except to take her turn at watch so Akamaru and I could get some rest. You have only been out for a little less than a day. It's going on noon now so if we hurry, we should be able to make it to the tower by late afternoon." Kiba explained.

Naruto nodded what had happened the day before. "Ino-chan, come on. It's time to get up and head out." Naruto said as he gently tried shaking the sleeping girl awake.

"I don't want to move. I'm comfortable in bed with you Naru-kun." Ino replied still half asleep causing Naruto to blush and Kiba to start laughing.

Ino opened her eyes at the sound of Kiba's laughter as she looked around. She looked up and saw a red faced Naruto and quickly realized what she said. She immediately got up and moved slightly away from her fellow blond.

"Naruto, I'm glad you're ok. You just passed out on us after we woke and we didn't know if anything had happened or not." Ino explained as a red mist came from Naruto's stomach and took the form of Kurama on his head.

"**I'm surprised you did as well as you did against one of the sannin. Although without the chakra cloak and my healing factor, you would have been wounded a lot more. We definitely need to tell the old man about this."** Kurama said.

"Thanks for the help guys. I'm fine and we should head out, need to get to the tower as soon as possible." Naruto said getting nods from his teammates and a bark from Akamaru.

-XXX-

Team ten made it to the tower about three hours after leaving their little camo site. They walked in with both their scrolls ready and looked around. Kiba noticed a large plaque on the wall and pointed it out.

"Without Heaven, Seek Wisdom. Without Earth, Run in the Fields. What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kiba asked.

"Heaven…Earth, I bet it's talking about the scrolls. Maybe we're supposed to open them now." Ino said looking at the scroll in her hand.

Naruto nods as he begins to open the earth scroll while Ino opens the heaven. Once the two scrolls are opened, smoke starts pouring out of them. "It's a summoning, get rid of the scroll." Naruto yelled as he and Ino dropped their scrolls.

In a puff of smoke, Iruka appeared with a smile on his face. Congratulations team ten, you pass the second part of the chunin exams."

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Kiba asked.

"The test was set up so that when a team opens their scrolls here in the tower, a chunin or jonin is summoned to greet them and explain what they are supposed to do now. Since it's only the second day, you'll just be waiting herein the tower until the test ends. When that happens, they'll gather all the genin that passed and inform them of the rules for the third test." Explained Iruka.

"What would have happened if we would have opened the scrolls before reaching the tower, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well if that happened, the chunin or jonin would have made sure the genin team was knocked out until the five days were up." Iruka said.

"Um…Iruka-sensei, what's with the plaque on the wall?" Ino asked.

"That's the chunin motto, which was written by Hokage-sama. In the paragraph, 'Heaven' refers to the mind while 'Earth' refers to the body. The first part that says 'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared' essentially means gains knowledge and prepare for missions ahead of time. The second part that say 'If you lack Earth, seek advantages, run in the fields' means to train your body so it is fit and able. So having both means that you can take on any missions. As a chunin you will eventually be expected to lead a team of shinobi into hostile territory, so the purpose of this test was twofold. First it was to test if the genin could follow orders and not break the rule of opening the scroll. Second it was to test if the genin had the strength and knowledge to survive against not only the forest, but also the other teams. These qualities are essential for a team leaded." Explained Iruka.

"You all should go get some rest now." Iruka said as he disappeared.

"You guys go on, I'm going to see if jiji is here or if someone can take us to him." Naruto said getting nods from his teammates as he walked off.

-XXX-

As Naruto walked the hallways, he was beginning to think the old man was still at the hokage tower. He had checked most of the building and couldn't find him anywhere. He started to walk back to his teammates when he was pulled into a room and the door was shut and locked. Naruto was in a fighting stance till he realized it was Sasuke.

"How long have you been here?" Naruto asked.

"About an hour, now explain what you was talking about back in the forest. What doesn't make any sense to you?" Sasuke asked.

"Before Anko took me in, had a few anbu that watched over me to keep the villagers from killing me, Itachi was one of my guards. I got to know Itachi very well when he was still here." Naruto said.

"Why did the villagers try and kill you?" Sasuke asked confused.

"You'll find that out during the finals. Anyway, Itachi was a prodigy, the best of his entire generation. He graduated at the top of the academy when he was seven and mastered his sharingan by the time he was eight. He passed the chunin exams when he was ten, at eleven he entered the anbu and he made anbu captain by the time he was thirteen." Naruto explained.

"Yeah, I already know all of this. What does this have to do with anything dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"Just think about Sasuke, why would Itachi go and kill off your entire clan, leaving just you, just so he could test his skills. Why did he leave you alive and what did he have to prove by killing off his entire family?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke wasn't sure what to say, he had never thought about it like that before. Now that he thought about it, none of it seemed to add up right to him. "But he told me to grow and hate him and to use that hate to get stronger and one day kill him." Sasuke replied after a few minutes of silence.

"There are other ways to get stronger, you don't have to use the hate to push yourself. A friend once told me that when you have something or someone precious to protect, that is when you truly become your strongest."

"What about you, what do you have to protect?" Sasuke asked.

"I want to become hokage and protect this village and everyone in it. I especially want to protect my friends and the ones I care about, especially nee-chan and Ino-chan." Naruto said with a smile. He was happy hoping that he finally got through to the brooding Uchiha.

"But you said the village tried to kill you, why you would protect them? Wouldn't you hate them instead? And what is so important about the two girls?"

"I won't let the hate get to me, I'll use it to get stronger and prove to them that I'm not what they think I am. As for the two girls, nee-chan was the first to actually take me in and accept me as family. As for Ino-chan, I love her and don't want her to get hurt." Naruto said the last bit in a whisper.

"What was that last bit?" asked Sasuke.

"I said I love Ino-chan which is why I will get stronger to protect her." Naruto said. "Look, I need to go and find my teammates and we need to go talk to hokage-sama. Think about what I told you and try to find something precious to protect."

"Will you help me, help me train and get stronger for when I need to face Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure, but it will have to wait till after the finals. I got to go." Naruto said with a wave before he left.

-XXX-

Naruto had gathered his teammates and had found an anbu to take them back to the hokage-tower. Team ten walked up the stairs and stopped at the door to the office. Ino knocked and waited till they heard 'enter' before walking in. Hiruzen sat as his desk with Ibiki and Anko in the room as well.

"What are you all doing here, you should be back at the tower." Anko asked.

"We needed to talk to jiji, we had a run in with the snake." Naruto replied causing all three adults to look at him in shock.

"Explain." Ordered Hiruzen.

After they explained what happened with meeting Orochimaru and Naruto having his talk with Sasuke, the three adults were all thinking different things.

"_The kid actually managed to hold his own against one of the sannin. I'm sure his parents would be proud."_ Thought Ibiki.

"_I'm getting too old for this shit. I need to find a replacement and soon."_ Hiruzen thought as he rubbed his temples.

Anko voiced her thoughts out loud as she knocked Naruto over the head. "What the hell is wrong with you gaki. You should have ran instead of trying to fight that teme." She then pulled him into a hug. "I don't want you getting hurt ototo."

"I'm sorry nee-chan, I just couldn't stand there and let him hurt my friends." Naruto replied before turning back to the kage. "Someone needs to keep a close eye on Kabuto and not let him get away."

"Normally before the preliminaries coming up, any who wants to leave can. However I think it may be best to skip that rule this year and after he has his match, Ibiki can take him and see what he know." The kage said causing Ibiki to gain a small sadistic smile.

"You three are dismissed, I will call you back here in three days to return with me for the preliminaries. Go and get some rest."

The trio bowed before they left the hokage's office. Once outside, Kiba said he was gonna head home and get some rest before returning to the exams. That left just the blond duo, there was silence until Naruto broke it.

"Hey Ino-chan, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead Naruto-kun."

"I was wandering if you wanted to get some dinner tonight?" Naruto asked with a small blush on his cheeks.

Ino had a matching blush. "You mean like a date?"

"Yeah like a date, if you don't want to that's fine too." Naruto said.

"I'd love to Naruto-kun. Where are we going so I know how to dress?" Ino asked trying to contain her excitement at finally being asked out.

"Dress nice but not too fancy. I'll pick you up about seven."

Ino nodded before walking off toward her house. After she turned the corner and made sure Naruto couldn't see her, she took off running. She ran through the front door of her house and straight to her room. Her mom walked up the stairs wandering what was going on.

"Someone seems excited." Said Noriko.

"I am, Naruto asked me out and wants to have dinner tonight. I need to find something to wear." Ino replied while going through her clothes. Noriko giggled at her daughter's action before deciding to help the young blond.

-XXX-

Naruto landed outside Ino's house. He was dressed in a pair of black dress pants with a blue button up shirt with red flames around the bottom. He had a white trench coat with orange flames coming from the bottom much like his dad's kage robes. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

The door opened to reveal a tall blond man, Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's father. "Good evening Inoichi-san." Naruto said with a bow.

Inoichi stepped outside and shut the door behind him causing Naruto to gulp. "Listen Naruto, Noriko and I both like you. You're a good kid and we have never had a problem with you at all. I just wanted to tell you that you better treat Ino right or I will use my clan's jutsu and make you think you're a five year old girl in a pretty pink dress for the rest of your life, understand?"

Naruto just nodded as the door opened once more. "Please don't scare my date daddy." Came the voice of Ino.

As she stepped out, Naruto was amazed at what he saw. She had her hair done up into a single bun with two chopsticks holding it in place. She had a black skirt that stopped just above her knees and a purple, short sleeved shirt that showed a little cleavage and the curves she was starting to develop. She also had a pair of short black heels and a touch of red lipstick.

"Wow, you look beautiful Ino-chan." Naruto said as he looked her over.

"Thank you Naruto-kun, shall we get going?" Ino asked.

Naruto offered her his arm as the two took off for the night. Naruto lead her to a small restaurant, called The Dancing Swan, that he remembered she had said she wanted to eat at. Naruto led her inside and they ordered their food and talked throughout the night. Ino was shocked when she saw the bill and even more shocked when Naruto paid for it like it was nothing. He told her that he saved what money he didn't use from his missions and had more than enough to pay for it.

After they left, Naruto lead her toward the hokage monument. "Where are we going Naruto-kun?" Ino asked as they walked up the stairs.

When they got to the top, Naruto led her over to the edge of the monument and looked out over the village. Ino was amazed by the sight as the sky had a light purple color to it from where the sun had just dipped below the horizon. The stars were out and the moon was shining brightly over the village.

"This is so beautiful." Ino said. Naruto saw her shiver just slightly as the wind blew and he took his jacket off and wrapped it around her before wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"This is where I come to just get away from everything and clear my head for a little while. No one ever comes up here so it's always so peaceful." Naruto said.

After enjoying the view for a little while, Naruto walked Ino back home, as he walked her to the front door, silence over took them. Neither knew what to really say since this was their first date. **(First dates are always the most awkward) **

"I had fun tonight Ino-chan." Naruto said trying to get rid of the suffocating silence.

"Me too Naru-kun. We should do this again some time." Ino saying causing Naruto to blush at the name.

"Definitely, well I should probably get going. Good night Hana-hime.** (Flower Princess)**" Naruto said as he kissed Ino on the cheek before quickly leaving.

Ino's parents were watching through the window and just smiled as Ino walked in and straight to her room with her hand on her cheek where Naruto had kissed her.

-XXX-

(Neji/Hinata, Shikamaru/Kin, Shino/Zaku, Kankuro/Misumi, these four fights go just as canon.)

It had been three days, and all the genin were back in the tower listening to the rules being explained by Hayate. All the genin moved to the walkways around the room to watch the fights. Naruto was sitting against the wall with Ino in his lap as they waited for the fights to start. Sasuke was standing next to the blond duo leaning against the wall still thinking over what he and Naruto had talked about. The screen started spinning through names before landing on two.

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Kabuto Yakushi

"Will the two constants please come down?" said Hayate.

Kabuto jumped down from his spot and walked to the middle of the arena. Sasuke pushed himself off the wall and walked toward the railing. "Good luck teme." Naruto said with a grin.

"Thanks dobe." Sasuke replied with a small smile of his own as he jumped to the floor.

"You really seemed to get through to him Naru-kun." Ino said when she saw Sasuke smile.

"I hope so." Naruto replied as they turned their attention back to the fight.

"You two ready?" Hayate asked getting nods from the two ninja. "Begin!" he shouted as he jumped back away from the two.

Sasuke and Kabuto both jumped away from each other as they both went through hand signs. As both ninja landed, they unleased their jutsu.

"Fire style: fire ball jutsu"

"Earth style: earth wall."

As the large fireball was launched as Kabuto, a wall of earth rose up and stopped the attack. Sasuke rushed in following his fireball and as Kabuto dropped the earth wall, he was met by Sasuke's fist connecting to his check sending Kabuto flying into a wall. Kabuto hit the wall with a loud thud and slid to the ground.

"_You better be glad Orochimaru-sama needs you alive Uchiha or you would already be dead."_ Kabuto thought as he picked himself up. Kabuto made a few hand signs as his hands started to glow green, he ran his hands over his cheek to get the soreness from the punch out of it before making more hand signs.

"Water style: water bullets." Kabuto shouted as four water bullets shot out of his mouth at Sasuke. Sasuke quickly made his own set of hand signs before bringing his hand to his mouth. "Fire style: phoenix flower jutsu." Sasuke shot four fireballs from his mouth and they impacted with the water bullets blanketing the arena in steam.

The steam surrounded the two ninja blocking out everyone else's view. "Looks like you used up a lot of chakra with that move just now." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Unfortunately I did, only the second hokage had mastered water jutsu enough to draw the water from the air without using too much energy or chakra." Replied Kabuto.

Sasuke activated his sharingan and rushed Kabuto with a speed that surprised him. Sasuke kicked Kabuto in his chin sending him flying into the air and out of the steam that covered the arena. Everyone was looking and waiting for something to happen when Naruto noticed the two ninja in the air. "Up there." Naruto said pointing up as everyone else looked up too.

Sasuke appeared behind Kabuto and went to kick him in the side. Kabuto brought his arm up and blocked the strike, Sasuke used this and pushed off and brought his arm around on Kabuto's other side. Sasuke kept doing this until Kabuto was just above the floor, he then brought his heel down into Kabuto's stomach and sending Kabuto into the floor.

"Lion Barrage." Sasuke called as he finished the combo to see Kabuto knocked out. After Hayate called the match, Sasuke returned to his spot by the blonds as the screen went through more names.

Ino Yamanaka vs. Sakura Haruno

Naruto gave Ino a quick kiss on the cheek before she joined Sakura on the arena floor. "I won't lose to you Ino-pig. I'll win and get Sasuke-kun to notice my love for him." Sakura said causing a few to roll their eyes and Sasuke to shiver.

"Whatever you say Sakura, let's just get this started already." Ino replied.

"Ready?" Hayate asked once again getting nods from both girls. "Begin!"

As soon as Hayate jumped back, Sakura rushed toward Ino with her fist pulled back. Ino easily dodged the first punch and continued to dodge each attack after that. Sakura was starting to get annoyed with Ino dodging each of her kicks and punches.

"Stop moving Ino-pig." Sakura yelled as she tried to catch her breath.

"Fine, if you think it will help." Ino said as she just stood there.

Sakura once again rushed in and tried to hit Ino. Ino stood there and just blocked each fist with her arms and each kick with her legs. No matter how hard she tried, Sakura just couldn't land a hit. As she stepped back to try and work out a way to hit Ino, said blond started going through hand signs.

"Lightning style: lightning palm." Ino said as she slid into a fighting stance with her hands covered in lightning. She rushed toward Sakura and started striking at Sakura's body causing a few of the onlooker's eyes to go wide, namely Hinata, Neji, and Kurenai. All their thoughts were on the same thing, Kurenai just voiced them.

"That looks like the gentle fist but she shouldn't know that stance." Kurenai said.

Asuma was standing beside Kurenai and spoke up. "She doesn't know the gentle fist, that his a style she made on her own with the help of Anko. It relies on the snake style's flexibility and speed. She took the idea of the gentle fist targeting the chakra points, and uses her lightning palm to target the body's pressure points instead. It definitely works, I was on the receiving end of it during team tens genin test I gave them and boy does it hurt."

Everyone watched as Ino continued to strike Sakura's body with her lightning covered hands. After a few minutes of assault, Ino stopped and watched as Sakura fell to the floor unable to move. Hayate called the match with Ino as the victor as she returned to her team and Sakura was taken by medic. The screen ran through the names again, when the names were chosen, the two individuals both had grins on their faces.

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Ichigo Kurosaki.

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><p><strong>Well there is chapter 9. It turned out a bit longer than I expected. Before anyone complains about the one sided fight with Ino and Sakura, remember who Sakura's sensei is, Kakashi never really did do much to begin with and Ino trained with Naruto, Anko, and her own clan.<strong>

**I have six fights left for the prelims. One of those fights I have is Temari vs. Kiba and Akamaru. Not really sure who I should have win so I will leave it up to you all, let me know in a review what you think.**

**One more thing, someone asked if Sasuke was going to be his normal emo ass self. As you can see, no he won't be. I have a few ideas for Sasuke to have a relationship with someone (NO IT WILL NOT BE SAKURA), one being Ino's twin sister which would end up with a few chapters of original ideas for that or maybe someone like Fuu. Let me know what you all think about that as well.**

**Anyways leave me a review and until next time, peace.**


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